


Seeing Stars

by mariuspunmercy



Series: across the stars [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Dark Percy Jackson, Enemies to Lovers to Enemies, F/M, M/M, Movie: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, POV Alternating, jason and leo pine the whole time, meanwhile percy & annabeth never stop throwing hands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:42:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25474810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariuspunmercy/pseuds/mariuspunmercy
Summary: Enemies on opposite sides of the Force, Percy and Annabeth find the light and dark in each other, contradicting all they thought they knew about the other.Meanwhile, throw in a secret mission and a lousy casino, Jason and Leo must work through their problems to ensure the survival of the Half-Bloods.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Jason Grace/Leo Valdez
Series: across the stars [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1675294
Kudos: 18





	1. Embrace For Impact

Leo was totally confident with the plan, but he seemed to be the only one with that mindset.

Festus beeped from the tailseat of their X-Wing, worried about the execution of said plan. Being honest, he wasn’t even that scared. Everyone in his earpiece, however, was really, _really_ nervous. But the Half-Bloods had to evacuate the Long Island system _somehow,_ right?

“Happy beeps here, buddy,” Leo told his friend. “Happy beeps. We’ve pulled crazier stunts then this.”

Only two days ago, they had both almost gotten killed by the Titans for just having a map. If someone had to be a distraction, they were the perfect duo! Leo can be a distraction all on his own. All he needed to do to piss someone off was smile at them the wrong way. It worked every time. 

“I’ve gotta agree with the droid on this one, Commander Valdez,” General Sally said into his earpiece. 

His eyes rolled into the back of his head. Sally was always sending him on crazy and reckless missions. While this one might be more crazy and reckless than what they’re used to, it wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle. The woman had nothing to worry about, honestly.

“Thank you for the support, general.” He took a deep breath, preparing to make an entire fleet of Titans very angry at him. “Happy beeps, okay…” He flipped a switch to broadcast his voice to the Talos, a dreadnought that was about to wipe him out. “Hey oh! This is Commander Leo Valdez of the Half Bloods. I have an urgent message for General Luke.”

He almost laughed, and he would’ve had he not been broadcasting. One wrong move and the Titans would know right away, and then this whole thing would’ve been for nothing. Yeah, doing useful missions weren’t usually very fun, considering he’d been mind tortured last time. 

“This is General Luke of the Titans.” The man’s voice held such a certainty to it, a whole different level of confidence. How sad to see such great leadership go to waste on a dictatorship. “The Half-Bloods are no more. Your fleet is full of nothing but rebellious scum. You are all war criminals. Go back and tell your precious princess that there will be no terms or agreements, and definitely no surrender.”

And this is where the fun began.

Well, it _would_ be fun as long as the Titans don’t decide that just one X-Wing coming over to them is weird and decide to attack… Yeah no, he’ll be fine.

“Hi, I’m holding for General Spook.” 

The beat of silence was enough to make him throw his head back, stifling his chuckles with his hand. He’s sure Sally can hear him trying his hardest not to burst out laughing. She must be shaking her head at him to take this more seriously. 

He is, don’t get him wrong. He knows what the stakes are. But if they worked and worked without ever taking a moment to appreciate the pure stupidity of the Titans, then what’s the point? Surviving the war was one thing, but living it is another. He knows if Jason was here, he’d be panicking and telling him to shut up. Or Annabeth, who’d probably join along with the teasing. 

Damn, he misses his friends.

“...this is _Luke._ You, along with everyone you’ve ever loved, is doomed. We’ll wipe your filth from the galaxy to make way for our reign!”

“Okay, I’ll hold.”

Festus beeped a small laugh at Luke’s growing confusion. The best part was Luke probably heard the droid laughing at him. What’s worse than a droid making fun of you? That’s right! Nothing. If they survive this, he’s gotta high five his friend for intimidating the enemy so easily with something so simple. 

“Hello?” 

“Hi! Yeah, we’re still here. Still holding.” 

Honestly, you’d think that with so many people on board a gigantic fleet, at least one person would understand the concept of prank calls. But Luke hummed, and he heard over the broadcast, “Wait, can he hear me? Is that the problem?”

Okay, had anyone else been given this mission, it would’ve been easier for them to contain their amusement. Except maybe Jason, who lets everyone see exactly how nervous he is. But sending Leo, the charmer who makes jokes about everything? That was why he had to bite his lip so hard he drew a bit of blood to stifle his giggles. 

“Spook?”

A gasp filled his ears. “He can!” 

If this goes on any longer, he’s going to have to cut off the broadcast. He hopes Sally can hear his suffering as he tries not to say, _Yeah, I can hear you. You should prioritize learning a bit of the young language, even if you’re only three years older than me. Eat a dick, hahahhaha._

But of course, he’s not going to say that. It’s honestly pretty surprising that Luke is only twenty eight. By the way he dresses and does his hair, he can pass for thirty two, _easily._ It’s hilarious how someone younger like Perseus can pass him up on ranks. Plus the commander’s a brat. 

Wow, what a loss for Luke.

“I’m looking for the really skinny guy. You know, the one with blond hair. He’s kinda pasty, but I don’t want to be the one to tell him that.” 

“I can hear you!” Luke shouted as if that wasn’t his intention. “Can you hear me? Do we need a stronger broadcast signal, or can your insufferable X-Wings not do anything right?” 

As if TIE Fighters were perfect! They’re cool, but nothing can replace an old fashioned X-Wing. He glanced at his cannons, almost fully powered up. Maybe five more seconds. “Look, I can’t hold forever. I got things to do. If you manage to reach him, can you tell him General Sally has an important message for him?”

Festus beeped at him as the cannons were ready to be fired. He counted out the Talos’ point defense cannons, and prepared to head that way as soon as they got themselves out of this. “Tell him it’s about his mom!”

“Open fire!” Luke yelled, the broadcast cutting off as the general gave his orders. 

“Festus, punch it!” Leo shouted as his display rapidly beeped, waiting to be used. 

Festus beeped excitedly as the X-Wing's rear nozzle fired, heading straight for the Talos. It’d stop the attack on Camp Half-Blood as he destroyed the cannons, then the bomb squad would pick up what he'd done and take out the dreadnought. 

The velocity lurched the ship forward, and he heard Festus’ head clang against the back of the tailseat. He whooped, the exhilaration something he’ll never get tired of. “Wa-hoo! That’s got a kick to it!” 

His ship flew atop the hull of the Talos. As TIEs started to deploy out, their sole purpose to take out the single X-Wing, he soared and rolled through the hostile fire. As the cannons of the Talos aimed at him, he fired at the enemy cannons with his own.

The Titans must think he’s _insane._ One person alone doing what most full squadrons couldn’t? Yeah, Leo is just that good. Not to be cocky or anything, but when everyone looks to him like he’s the best pilot of the Half-Bloods, well… 

Probably the only other person who could take his title is Annabeth. He’s only seen that girl fly once, and she’d been an absolute beast in the pilot’s seat. Not to mention she was emotional and acting rash, yet she _still_ flew perfectly. It’s a shame he only got to talk to her for about two days, but when she gets back, they’ll be a force to reckon with. Jason is going to hate them.

Leo tapped into his communication, sending a message out to the bomb squad. “I’m taking out all the cannons now. Lacy, you can start your approach. Are Michael and Katie ready?”

Now, when he says a bomb squad is coming in, he doesn’t mean the _full_ squad. Because as confident as the general was, she still hated this plan, and she didn’t want to send out the full squadron. So, they picked their best three, and off they’ll go. 

“Copy that,” Lacy replied. 

He got into close range with the cannons, but he knew they couldn’t take him out _because_ he was in close range. That, and his X-Wing is tiny compared to the giant Talos. At this point, even the TIEs have lost sight of him. Now, that’s what they get for messing with someone like him.

“There’s only one cannon left!” Leo cheered as he made his way over to the remaining cannon. He saw a whole squad of special force TIEs swooped in pursuit. “Oh great, here comes the parade.”

 _GET US OUT OF HERE!_ Festus beeped nervously. 

“Relax, buddy. I’ve flown one of these things before. Don’t worry, they’re only intimidating because they’re bigger than regular TIEs.” It’s not like he necessarily lied… He just forgot to mention that these are faster and have a higher accuracy of cannon fire. 

Well, too late to mention it now.

As TIEs soared their way over to them, Festus continued to chirp warnings every three seconds about something coming toward them. As if Leo couldn’t block every shot they fired. “Yeah, I know, buddy. I see them.”

But apparently, he didn’t see one that fired at his X-Wing from the bottom. Leo flew upward at the last second possible, but the blast still grazed him. The cockpit machinery started sparkling, and he realized as he got closer to the cannon, he couldn’t shoot. His gunning wasn’t working. 

“No! Damn it!” Leo shouted, hitting the control panels as if it was their fault. “Festus, my weapons system is down. If we don’t take out that last cannon, Lacy and company are screwed. Work your magic, buddy!”

He continued to go straight toward the cannon, not caring that he wouldn’t be able to fire when he got close enough. As long as he was in range and Festus fixed everything, then they’d all be fine.

“Good job, Leo. You distracted them and we’re all evacuated,” Sally spoke over his intercom. “I changed my mind. Come back with your bombers onto the Peleus.”

Now she wants to change her mind? When he’s almost got every cannon fried so the Talos couldn’t fire on anything else ever again? Hell no! Even if he took out their cannons, they could just repair them. They needed to take out the whole dreadnought if they really wanted this mission to be a success.

“General, with all due respect, _no._ We can do this! We have the chance to take out the Talos.” As one of the TIEs tailed him, it crashed into the hull of the Talos. He’s taking out Giantroopers too! They’ll never get another opportunity like this. “This thing is a fleet killer. We can’t let it get away!”

“Commander, disengage _now,”_ Sally said in a stern voice. Geez, she’s sounding like his mom. “That is an order-”

He flipped a switch, cutting off his communication with the Peleus and Half-Bloods. She can’t order him around if he can’t hear her, right? Is that how that saying goes? Whatever. He continued on, only feet away from the cannon. The target lined up on his cockpit’s viewfinder. All he has to do is shoot, but he can’t do that if his weapons system is still offline. 

“All right, Festus. It’s now or never.” He squeezed his weapon’s trigger, and it fired! He could kiss Festus right now. It lined up perfectly, the last of the Talos’ cannons destroyed. “Yeah!” He opened his communication to Lacy only, yelling at her in excitement, “Bring in the bombs!” 

“On our way, commander,” Lacy chirped back. He could hear the happiness in her voice. He’s honestly just glad they decided to disobey Sally’s orders too. “It’s not everyday we get a shot at a dreadnought!” 

Now, that’s the spirit! He pulled back, hiding in the shadows underneath the Talos. He watched as the single bomb ship came into view, the only three people aboard being Lacy, Katie, and Michael. His smile grew as they flew to the middle of the Talos, prepared to drop the bombs. 

His smile began to deteriorate as every TIE in sight started firing on the bombers. Unlike X-Wings, they had no gunners or defense. They didn’t even have a shield. He hadn’t realized that, and him with Festus alone wasn’t enough to take out the entire parade of enemy ships. He could dodge just fine without engaging, but dodging wasn’t an option for them.

He didn’t think this through. 

An auto cannon lined up at the bombers. His heart squeezed in his chest when he realized he had only taken out the point defense. That had been the goal all along, but he forgot the single auto cannon existed. Sally had realized, and that’s why she needed them to disengage. 

“Lacy!” He shouted, panic suddenly taking over his body. “Lacy, the auto cannons have you guys targeted! They’ve probably begun the priming sequence!” 

“Copy that,” Lacy responded in a calm voice. At least one of them has a clear head. “We’ve begun the drop sequence. The bombs are armed. Just give us a second.”

“Wait, why aren’t your bay doors open?” When he didn’t get a response, he repeated, “Lacy, why aren’t your bay doors open? It’s down to you guys!”

“Shit!” Lacy yelled. He could hear Katie’s voice in the background and Michael’s franticness. They had forgotten to open the bay doors, and if they don’t open them by the time the drop sequence begins, the Talos won’t be the only thing exploding. 

The bomb ship suddenly stopped flying, almost like it’s engines had turned off. “The doors are jammed,” Michael explained. “We cut the engines. When we crash into the Talos, the bombs will go off.”

He understood their plan. He hated it. He hated sacrifices and trading lives. He hung his head in a quick mourning. They’re heroes, doing what heroes do. “Thank you guys, for everything.”

“Bombs away.”

Lacy choked up voice filled his ears as the bomb ship crashed into the Talos, setting off a chain of explosions as the Talos was destroyed, taking their three best bombers with it.

* * *

As soon as Leo made his way to the main bridge of the Peleus, Sally slapped him.

“You’re demoted,” she said simply, walking away from him. 

“Wait, what?” He made his way back to her, confused. “Why? We took out the Talos.”

“At what cost?” 

He gets her anger, and it’s a hundred percent valid. He’s just as upset about losing Lacy, Katie, and Michael. But they made the choice. They could’ve evacuated, but they didn’t. He’s not the one who told them to give up their lives, so the general can _not_ get upset at him for it. The only thing she can be mad at him for is disobeying her orders, which she doesn’t seem angry about.

Not only that, but the three of them also disobeyed orders! He’s sure Sally sent them the message to get retreat and leave when he took out the cannons. With combined efforts, the four of them (including Festus) had taken out a vital weapon. Yes, it’s okay to mourn and she has a right to be angry, but what does she get out of demoting him? 

“When we started the attack, we knew we had to follow it through,” he explained. “We weren’t going to do it halfway just for them to come back twice as powerful.”

“Oh, god… Leo, get your head out of your cockpit!” He was glad that everyone on the bridge was busy jumping to lightspeed so no one paid attention to his scolding. “There are problems we can’t solve by jumping in a X-Wing and blowing something up!”

Yes, he _knows_ that. But this is a problem that required him to act as he did. What else was he supposed to do? If they half assed what they had done, the risk of being out there and facing the Talos alone would’ve been for nothing. The bombers’ sacrifice would be for nothing if Sally is going to do nothing but yell at him for it.

He adores the general, he really does. If she’d let him, he would follow her around everyday like a lost puppy and see everything he does. She was the founder of the Half-Bloods, and she did everything for them. She’d lost the father of her child _to_ her child, but all she did was lift her chin and continue to be the general she needed to be. 

Sally deserves all the respect in the world, and every ounce of him goes toward making sure she’s respected. But when she’s getting upset at him for making a decision that could save the lives of thousands, especially when they had just taken out the Nemesis… It made him angrier than he should be.

“There were heroes on that mission.”

“Dead heroes.” He started to walk away, upset that she refuses to see the good they did when she called out, “I didn’t see a single leader.”

Her words stung, and it stayed with him as he made his way down to the hanger. He had left his helmet in his X-Wing, and his orange bodysuit (pilot’s outfit, ignore the color) looked awkward without it. 

Festus was waiting for him, the helmet perched on his round head. Leo laughed, glad that someone here was in good spirits. “You did good, buddy.”

_Jason is naked in a leaking bag._

Leo stared at him droid in confusion, taking his helmet back. “Jason is naked in a leaking bag? Are you okay? Did you fry a chip?” 

He turned his head to the doors of the hanger, and in fact did see Jason walking around like he didn’t know what galaxy he’s in, his medbay IV’s that were attached to the white bodysuit leaking all over the floor. People passed him, paying the ex Giantrooper no mind. 

Leo, on the other hand, was ecstatic. 

It may have only been two days since Jason knocked out, but for Leo, it was about the time of the world. Maybe it’s just his issues with being left alone for periods at a time. He swears next time his friends leave, he’s starting a mutiny. 

“Jason!” He yelled from across the hanger, getting his attention. “Hey, man!” He ran up to the blond, clutching his arm to steady him. 

Jason tripped a little over his own feet, so Leo passed his helmet back to Festus as he grabbed Jason by the shoulders to look at him. “Hey, hey. Look at me.” Jason’s wild eyes bored into his, Leo having to turn because it was sort of intimidating. “Let’s uh… let’s get you dressed. I’m sure you have a million questions.”

“Where’s Annabeth?” 

* * *

When Annabeth handed Grover his lightsaber, she was expecting him to take it with gratitude and come back with her.

Instead, he took it from her hand and threw it over his shoulder, walking past her as he went into a little stone hut. He didn’t say anything to her, instead choosing to ignore her. He didn’t even have questions? No suspicions about her? He had absolutely nothing to say to her? No, something isn’t right.

“Master Underwood?” She followed him to his hut as he closed the door in her face. She was left staring at the wood, huffing under her breath. “Master Underwood? I’m with the Half-Bloods. Your sister Sally sent me. We really need your help.”

“Go away!” He yelled back at her.

Well, this definitely isn’t what she was expecting. 

All the stories of Grover Underwood she heard describes him as this brave man who never wavered in fear. He stared Darth Pluto in the face, turning her to the light side without hesitation. He fought, despite having almost no training, but he fought because he knew it was the right thing to do.

Those had been bedtime stories, but so were Demigods and the Force. How much was exaggerated? She refused to believe Grover would just give up like this. Give up on _what,_ exactly? She marched back to the Argo, finding Mrs. O’Leary playing a holochess game by herself.

“He locked himself in his little hut thing,” she explained. “Can you get him out?”

 _Can I get him out? Woman, do you know who you’re talking to? Of course I can,_ Mrs. O’Leary replied smuggly. Well, at least one of them was confident in their ability to talk to Grover.

Mrs. O’Leary hopped out of the seat she was sitting in, running toward the ramp of the Argo and making her way up the stone stairs. Annabeth followed closely behind, careful not to lose track of her friend. It’d be a nightmare if she let a hellhound loose on this tiny planet.

_So, which one is it?_

Annabeth looked for a second. All of these huts looked exactly the same. She saw one that was open, no one inside of it. Good, because she’d probably scream if someone _was_ inside. She walked in and set her satchel down. She’ll stay here, trying to stay as close to Grover as she could.

 _I don’t see Grover in here,_ Mrs. O’Leary said matter of factly. 

She sighed. This thing has been nothing but a sassy little hellhound since the moment they met. She knows no one blames her for Poseidon’s death, but she couldn’t help but feel that the attitude came from that.

“I think it was this one.” Annabeth stopped in front of the only hut that had its door closed, so unless Grover left and closed the door to trick her, she had to be right.

Mrs. O’Leary gave no warning when she ran into the door, knocking it down in the process. Grover sat up in the process, surprise written all over his face when the wood from his door shattered. He looked up at the two of them, his eyebrows furrowing as he focused on the hellhound. 

“Mrs. O’Leary?” Grover leaned forward, not wanting to stand. “Leary! What are you doing here?”

_You’re coming back with us. It’s about time you did._

She didn’t know if he could speak hellhound, so she translated for him, “She said you’re coming back with us. We need you.”

He narrowed his eyes at them. “How did you find me?” 

Oh, nothing much. Just some casual running away from the only home you’ve ever known, stealing a ship, meeting some amazing people, getting captured and totally invaded, watching as the Commander of the Titans struck his dad, and having to fight him as he’s morally wounded and still nearly losing. Only then, her friend almost died and she had to leave him behind as she came here to deal with a man who seemed to not even want to talk to her.

“It’s a long story.” A simple response, but she didn’t feel like standing in this little hut all day as she recounted her entire adventure from a couple of days ago. “C’mon, I’ll tell you on the Argo.”

“The Argo?” Grover’s face brightened, if just a bit. “Where’s Poseidon?”

She made eye contact with Mrs. O’Leary, who bowed her head. She felt for her. The poor thing wasn’t given any time before she was being sent on another mission. Sally was put in the same position. The two closest to him unable to have a proper grieving moment. 

“This only happened two days ago...” Annabeth started. “He went to confront Perseus. He wanted to bring his son back. But at the last second, he…” She looked outside for a moment, the sun setting over the horizon. The red glow illuminated the room, giving it the appropriate lighting considering the topic. “I don’t know if Perseus was almost turned, but he killed him.”

Grover didn’t say anything, instead choosing to lie flat on his back and look up at the ceiling. “Go away. _Now.”_

_But Grover-_

Annabeth rested her hand on Mrs. O’Leary’s head, beckoning her outside. If they were truly as close as everyone said, of course the death would hurt. If Sally wasn’t given the time she needed then damn it if she wouldn’t give Grover at least until the morning. She still needed him, but she wanted to give him some time. 

She walked back to her chosen hut as Mrs. O’Leary went back down the stairs, most likely heading to the Argo. She watched her go, closing the door. The moon had risen, and she sat down on a stone slab. Well, not any less comfortable than her bed back on San Francisco that was just straight up sand. 

A chill ran down her spine. She swore she heard some kind of… machine? No, that wasn’t right. She hasn’t seen anything of the likes here. A roar flooded her ears as if water were crashing down and swallowing her. But she’s in the hut? And she’s alone? What the-

Annabeth raised her eyes as complete silence took over, Perseus standing in front of her. 

She reached for her blaster without a second thought and pointed it at his abdomen, shooting with no hesitation. The blast went through him and into the wall, bricks falling as he gasped and grabbed at his waist.

Her breath was shaky, as was his. It hadn’t hurt him, only startling him. Her blaster was still raised, but it did nothing to him. How was he here? Her disbelief had now taken over her panic as she got up and ran outside her hut. 

He followed her, sliding on the ground, his bewilderment matching hers. The pull from the Force was strong; stronger than she had ever felt it. He was just as puzzled about this as she was, the two of them simply staring at each other for a beat.

Perseus lifted his hand toward her, demanding, “You will bring Grover Underwood to me.”

She didn’t have to try very hard to resist it, which was a first. He retracted his hand back to his side as her breathing sped up, thousands of alarms going off in her head. He had a large scar across his face from when she had hit him with Spatha in the forest. She couldn’t tell if his side was still severely wounded from the Giantrooper that accidentally shot him.

But what baffled her the most was how he asked her for Grover. He wasn’t really here, and he couldn’t see where she was at. If he could, he wouldn’t be using a mind trick on her. He wasn’t her imagination, either. His presence felt too real, and the Force was pulling them together in a way she couldn’t explain. 

“You’re not doing this… The effort would kill you.” He stared at her. He didn’t get to stare at her. He deserved to look at her and run in fear, not stare at her like she was the only thing he could see. Though, she didn’t know where he was, and she could very much be the only person in the room. She hated that. 

“Can you see my surroundings?” He turned to look behind him, and her shock finally wore off. He was here, and neither of them seemed to know how. Doesn’t matter. He’s here, and she swore to destroy him the next time she saw him.

Though it seems her blaster couldn’t even touch him. “You’re going to pay for what you did!”

“I can’t see yours…” He trailed off, taking another moment to just stare at her. “Just you.” He was standing in front of her, but there was no indication of where he actually was. Her breathing got a little heavy again as she tried to understand what was happening. “It’s not you. It’s not me. This is something else.”

He spoke in the same low voice he used as he interrogated her. It wasn’t the same violent voice from the forest, or even the horrendous mask speaking, like in front of Reyna’s castle. There was an echo when he spoke, almost like the two of them were alone in an empty room. She could see his dark hair, and his green eyes. She could see everything about him perfectly, yet he wasn’t actually here. 

Grover came waddling out of his hut, squinting at her hut that was missing some pieces. “What was _that_ about?”

Perseus’ attention changed from studying her to focusing on Grover. She could see how his teeth grinded against each other, his body language changing as his gaze settled on the man. “Grover.”

She looked at Grover, then back to Perseus. “I was cleaning my blaster. It went off.” Grover had already tried to kick her off the island. He’d force her to leave if he knew that she was talking with his nephew that had destroyed his temple. 

“Yeah?” She turned back to Grover as he went back to his own hut. “Don’t do it again.”

Annabeth turned back to Perseus, but he was already gone. Whatever was connecting them had cut off when Grover arrived. So they couldn’t see any surroundings, but he could hear hers. She assumed the machines she had heard were his, and his sliding around on the ground was him trying to keep up with her moving. She had probably left the room he was in, and she didn’t even know it. 

She made her way back to her hut, disoriented from the interaction. He hadn’t immediately tried to kill her the way she shot him within the first five seconds of meeting. She was able to resist him easier when only two days earlier he was making her cry because of it. The audio was echoey, his voice booming across what could’ve been a thousand islands.

Except she was the only one able to hear it. If anything, Grover should’ve come out quicker. So, no one else could hear. The Force was more powerful then than any other time she’s used it, which was only about… twice. He felt it too, and she knew he did because… she could feel him too? Like she was able to tell he felt just as powerful, yet it wasn’t a power for them to use. There really was no explanation she could provide for what just happened. 

Maybe she’d never have an interaction like that again. Maybe it was a one time thing. The Force was trying to play a prank, and after it got its laugh, it decided to not connect the two people who were about to start a war with each other. That had to be it.

Because there’s no reason for anything to connect Annabeth to the commander of the Titans. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooow so here we are :D
> 
> Part 2 of the Star Wars PJO AU. This AU is literally my baby and I love it so much. 
> 
> I know this chapter was kinda fast and jumped right into it, but it was mainly to set the pacing for the next chapters. Everything is split up evenly from here :D 
> 
> I should stop with the :D but I don't really wanna 
> 
> Also: I actually liked The Last Jedi. I liked all of the sequels, but a couple of things have been added just because it's stuff I would've liked to see. I still love this movie, but it's just a couple of changes :D
> 
> Vibe with me on Tumblr: hispanicpercy


	2. *The Pink Panther Theme Song*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't want to call the lightsabers "swords" anymore so they're actually called lightsabers now

Percy went up the elevator with disdain and disarray. 

Almost immediately after seeing Annabeth in… whatever that was, he was called up to Kronos’ throne room. He was suddenly glad that they had built more than one base. After the incompetent Half-Bloods destroyed the Nemesis, he had to board his personal shuttle to get on the Nyx. 

The Nyx was where Kronos always stayed. He hated moving, so he’d send a hologram if he really needed to talk to them. Or like now, where he’s summoning Percy for the first time since the survivors from the Nemesis boarded the Nyx. 

He had to put his mask back on after _chatting_ with Annabeth. He was fixing up his scar that _she_ gave him when she appeared in his quarters, just as confused and dazed as he was. He took a careful moment to study her, to see what she was doing. 

She wasn’t doing anything, though. She did nothing but stand there and glare at him.

Funny, because he did the same back. Maybe not glaring, but she managed to basically teleport herself with the Force into his room. Except she _hadn’t_ done it. As powerful as she is with the Force, she’s not nearly powerful enough to do anything of the sorts. She tried to shoot him, and if it really was her, she would’ve come up with an easier way to actually kill him. 

Then she ran out of his room, and like a puppy who didn’t know what was going on, he had to follow her. He couldn’t see any of her surroundings, or where she was. Just her. It was almost like only they were meant to see each other, and that’s why her blaster fire had gone through him. It wasn’t meant to be in the room with them as they talked. 

It was odd, to say the least. Something new they had never seen before. The Force attraction was greater than anything he’s ever experienced. Considering what his bloodline is, that’s saying a lot. He had moments with the Force where he felt he was the most powerful being in the galaxy, and everyone should bow down.

He’d never been so powerful yet so powerless. That ability was something they share, and in that moment, it was divided amongst the two of them. Neither one had a greater Force pull. They were equals, their magnitude matching each other. It was something he’s never felt before, not even when he was around his mother.

Strange. He had interacted with her for less than two minutes, but he grabbed as much information as he could. She seemed too focused on being angry at him than trying to assess the situation. Then Grover had come out, and she had been cut off. He went back to being alone in his room, more baffled than anything.

He should tell Kronos. The elevator door opened, and he saw the figure sitting on his throne with Luke at his feet. The Giantrooper guards didn’t look at him as he entered. 

He should tell Kronos how the Force was connecting him with his mortal enemy that could potentially be spying on them. 

But he didn’t. He doesn’t know why, but he had a feeling that the connection was something only for the two of them.

Well, that’s actually a huge assumption. For all he knows, she could’ve ignored what the Force said and tattled on him to Grover. He knows she didn’t. Again, he doesn’t know how, but he could almost sense it. If she was going to tell anyone, he would know about it. She’s keeping it a secret too; a mutual understanding of sorts.

Kronos’ sinister laugh rang through his ears. Percy glared at Luke through his mask. He knows his anger must be radiating off of him in waves. Luke had done good in tracking the Half-Bloods, he knows that. But he hated that it was _Luke_ of all people that had come up with it.

Hatred flooded his body. It never went away for too long.

It shocks him that they’re using a method that was done in the Tartarus days. It would’ve been an amazing tactic, had they known about it earlier. But now is as good a time as any. If the entirety of the Half-Bloods fit on three ships, then tracking them would be the best thing they could do to get the upper hand. 

The high ground, if you will.

“They are tied on a string, indeed. Good job, General Luke. You’ve done well,” Kronos praised as Perseus walked in. “We will soon have the Half-Bloods in the palms of our hands.”

“Thank you, Supreme Leader,” Luke responded. He took a step back to walk out, but Kronos raised his hand to stop him. 

“I am a bit disappointed, however, that you allowed a single X-Wing fighter and one bomb ship to destroy our beloved Talos. Not only were we not able to fire on Camp Half-Blood, but it was one of our most valuable weapons now that the Nemesis is gone.” Kronos grasped the sides of his throne, leaning forward to intimidate Luke. _“Don’t_ let something like that happen again.”

 _Really? That’s_ going to be the whole punishment? A scolding? Not even a slap on the wrist? The Nemesis was one of three large bases, including the Nyx and Chaos. The Talos ranked among them in sheer power alone. No matter if the other two are better, it’s still something that deserves some sort of punishment! It’s bullshit how things worked around here sometimes. 

Luke nodded. “Yes, Supreme Leader.” He turned around, passing Perseus on his way out. He sneered at him, getting Perseus annoyed in the process. But with his mask on, he was able to feel as he pleased. He rolled his eyes, walking the rest of the catwalk until he stopped in front of the Sith. 

Sith were funny things. It was always said that they had to be balanced with the Demigods. At some point there were two Sith and over ten thousand Demigods until Darth Pluto brought balance by killing all of them, leaving only a couple. Now, there’s Kronos, and Grover Underwood is out there somewhere as the last Demigod. 

Kronos’ cruel laughter bounced off the walls in an echo as Perseus kneeled in front of him. “You don’t like my general. You wonder why I keep someone like him in a position of power.” 

He forgot to clear his mind before coming inside. He had been too focused on trying to figure out the Force connection to take a breath and push his thoughts out. It had only ever happened one other time, when Annabeth had read his mind and discovered she could use the Force. 

“My general is a sharp tool,” Kronos continued. “His mind is very easily manipulated, and in that weakness is his strength that’s mine for the taking.” Perseus kept his gaze on the ground. How stupidly distracted was he? “How’s your wound, boy?”

He could fix it with machines. He’s fine. “It’s nothing,” he spoke quickly. 

“Hmm..” Kronos observed him before getting off of his throne, walking towards him. “The Mighty Perseus. When I found you, scared and betrayed after your uncle failed you, I saw what every master wants to see. I saw raw, and untamed power. There was something else about you. Something truly special: the potential of your bloodline. I saw a new Darth Pluto. You would be known as Perseus. No longer simply _Percy_ so we could prove you are not your father’s son.

He’d been waiting for this. He needed to finish what his grandmother started. She had wanted to take over the galaxy. If she couldn’t do it with Tartarus, then he’d complete it with the Titans. He will reign in her name over the bones of his family.

“Now I fear I was mistaken.” Perseus didn’t glance up at Kronos’ words, instead choosing to very slowly lift his head. He didn’t understand. 

“I’ve given you everything I have,” Perseus argued. “To the dark side!”

“Take off your ridiculous mask.”

He took a second, setting his jaw and breathing through his nostrils to cover up any vulnerability. He reached up with gloved hands, lifting his mask off as it hissed. He focused his gaze to a spot on the floor, his reflection looking back at him. He was ashamed that he had to show off his scar.

“Yes, I see it now. You have too much of your father’s heart in you. In your eyes. Too much for my liking, young Jackson.”

He looked up, his eyes hardening on the Supreme Leader. “I killed Poseidon Jackson.” In a way, he really did. “I didn’t hesitate when the moment came!”

In his own rising anger, he had failed to notice Kronos’ wrath. “But when I look at you, I see the task split you to the bone! You were unbalanced afterwards! A girl who had never held a lightsaber in her life was able to best you? _YOU FAILED!”_

Only because he was _wounded already._

No one understood. All they did was make assumptions about him. It’s the same thing that Grover did. Perseus stood, his robes fluttering around him as he had every interest in hashing it out with a Sith in his fit of fury. Kronos simply waved his hand, electrocuting him with the lightning that shot out of his hands. The Giantroopers all raised their weapons at the ready.

That’s what he hated about these specific troopers: they’re actually good at what they do. He grit his teeth as he sat up, grabbing onto his side that he had stitched up this morning. The lighting didn’t do anything but send sparks of anguish throughout his body. His hair fell in front of his eyes, a problem he never has with the mask.

“Underwood lives! He’s all they need so the Demigods can continue to grow, and then they’ll _live!”_ Kronos turned around, not batting an eye at his apprentice on the floor as he sat back down on his throne. “As long as there’s a living Demigod, hope will survive in the galaxy. I believed that you were going to be the one to snuff it out.”

Perseus brought himself to his feet quicker than he probably should have, his wound practically screaming at him to stop. He stared up at Kronos, his hard eyes never wavering as the Supreme Leader said, “You are no Darth Pluto. You’re just a child in a mask.”

He decided he’d had enough of this. He refused to be insulted over and over even though people like Luke were getting praised, despite one of their most valuable weapons being destroyed on his watch. He grabbed his mask from the floor, sauntering out of the throne room as his robe fluttered behind him.

When he stepped in the elevator, he used the Force to close the doors immediately. Like hell he wanted to see those golden eyes doing nothing but staring down at him in disappointment. His breathing became erratic, and he had to close his mouth and breathe through his nose before he started a tornado in here. 

He faced the glowing white wall, lifting his mask so he was looking at it. His fingers examined the delicate metal, and how well it blended with the black. It had done well. But why use a mask if he’s apparently nothing like Pluto? He lifted his fist, slamming the mask into the wall over and over again.

Grunting noises escaped his lips as he went as hard as he could. He didn’t care that the lights were now flickering, or even that he had gone through the top of the mask and was hitting his hand against the wall, his knuckles bleeding out. He arrived at the bottom, two random officers seeing him and straightening their posture. 

He knew how to show that he could be the next Pluto. He growled at the people, almost laughing at their terrified faces. “Prepare my ship!” If they were too low rank, well then they’d better tell someone else to do it. 

Perseus threw the dismantled mask on the floor, speeding past the officers as he began to put his plan into motion.

* * *

Jason looked at their location, but he didn’t like what he saw.

“We’re nowhere,” he announced to Sally and Leo as if they didn’t already know this. Leo looked at him sideways, a displeased expression showing that he didn’t like the conversation. He wrapped himself tighter in Leo’s jacket, turning to Sally instead. “How is Annabeth ever going to find us out here?”

Everywhere he looked, it was just empty space. Empty stars that had no meaning except to glisten, trash that had no business being there. Black seemed to stretch on forever, and that’s saying something, considering they just dropped out of lightspeed. Yeah, out of lightspeed into the middle of _nowhere._

Sally lifted her sleeve, showing off a metal bracelet of some sort. He moved closer to check it out, and noticed a beeping blue bauble in the center. He had only ever seen this device once when he was with the Titans. General Luke had given it to the commander of their unit, Gwen, when they landed on San Francisco for his first battle. 

“It’s a homing beacon,” he said to Leo, who leaned against a wall with his arms crossed. He didn’t seem to want to talk to Sally, which was strange. After having talked with the two of them for only about an hour when they first arrived at Camp Half-Blood all those days ago, he got the hint that the pilot could talk to the general for a thousand light years, never getting bored.

If Sally noticed Leo’s behavior, she didn’t say anything. “We’re gonna light her way home.”

He wasn’t around to see how Annabeth interacted with everybody, to which Leo had to catch him up on. He just needed to know if she was alright, and if she could make her way back to them. He’d been stuck hearing the twenty minute recap of Leo’s daring rescue in the Argo and how well he and Annabeth got along. Somehow, it was an intriguing story. 

“So until she gets back, what’s the plan?” Jason questioned. 

“We need to find a new base,” Sally explained. “It needs to have enough power so we can send out a distress signal to our friends in the Brooklyn House. They’re scattered all over the place-”

Whatever she was going to say was cut off by someone on the controls yelling, “Proximity alert! The Titans found us!”

Leo ran to a window, grabbing Jason’s arm in the process as they stared into the space. “That’s gotta be impossible,” Leo stated as multiple Titan cruisers, fleets, and on top of that, their Nyx, dropped onto their location. “That’s where Kronos stays. It’s their main ship, it’s… You have got to be kidding me.”

“Can we jump to lightspeed?” Jason asked Sally. 

“Wait.” Sally raised a hand, looking around at her comrades. Everyone was running around, trying to figure out what they could do next. They were a fully functioning ship. Why aren’t they making the jump? “They tracked us through lightspeed.”

Jason looked at her sideways. Even while he was stationed on the Nemesis, he never heard of lightspeed tracking. It _had_ to be something else. “No, that’s impossible.”

Sally bowed her head. “Yes it is. But they’ve done it.”

It couldn’t be done because _it’s not possible._ Even if they are being tracked (which they aren’t), then they could just… make the jump. The Titans had a major delay in coming. If they could go out far enough, then they should be fine to jump to another location. Annabeth can’t come back with the Titans on their asses. It just isn’t safe enough for her. 

“So even if we jump through lightspeed, they’ll just find us again?” Leo grasped at Jason’s arm. “We can’t sit here like waiting ducks either. No, we gotta go.”

“They’ve got us,” Sally tried, but Leo, ever the stubborn pilot, shook his head.

“Not yet.” He walked over to the general, whose eyes softened. Perhaps she was waiting for him to start talking to her again. Jason would have to ask what happened later. “Permission to jump into a X-Wing and blow something up?”

“Permission granted.” Sally turned to look at her admirals, barking orders to raise the shields. Jason barely caught a glimpse of the chaos that had started as he followed Leo into the hanger to board a X-Wing, Festus rolling right behind them.

So maybe jumping into a X-Wing and blowing something up _isn’t_ the best thing for him to do right now, considering he just woke up after being asleep for two days. But he knew he had to do something. He didn’t stand by Annabeth as she fought with Perseus, or Leo as he helped blow up the Nemesis. Both of them could hold their own just fine, but he still felt like a terrible friend for leaving them alone. 

So, he’ll fight alongside Leo to show that he can actually do something. To prove it to himself, really. 

He tried to ignore the TIEs coming out of the Nyx as they ran to the hanger, but the sight was too terrible. Every pilot and gunner that the Half-Bloods had were sprinting to get to their vehicle as fast as they could if they weren’t there already. 

Festus started beeping frantically, rolling past them. Jason had no idea what he said, but Leo pointed to the hanger, yelling, “Don’t wait for us, buddy! Jump in the X-Wing and fire her up!”

It struck Jason suddenly. After a very brief discussion when he proposed his rescue mission for Annabeth, Leo explained how he had his own squadron, Cabin 9, to command. Why wasn’t he doing that now? He was distracted by Leo grabbing his hand as they turned a corner, trying to run as fast as they could.

Leo let go as they approached the hanger, the pilot taking the lead. But as soon as he took five steps into the hanger, a torpedo hit the room, sending a wave of explosions throughout that sent Leo crashing into the wall, falling back to the ground. Festus followed after, screeching as he was rammed into the surface. 

Someone closed the doors, every pilot who was in there probably already dead as the ships burnt. Jason crouched next to Leo, forcing the pilot to look at him through his wild eyes. “Leo! Leo, man, are you alright?”

“We need to get out of range of the Nyx,” Leo growled, pushing his hair out of his face. Jason helped him up, but they got a very bad feeling as they heard another explosion from above. 

Despite almost being deep fried, Leo ran with an intensity that Jason could barely begin to match. His friend was determined to see what the problem was before even checking himself out. They tried to run to the primary bridge of the ship, but were surprised to see it gone.

Wait. _Gone?_

The general was on the bridge when they’d last seen her, including other important people that the Half-Bloods needed. They looked through a door that _would’ve_ led them to the bridge to see debris and floating people everywhere. Their breath fogged up the glass, and they couldn’t even begin to assess the damage. 

“Oh god..” Jason muttered. Movement from the corner of his vision caught his attention. He tapped his friend, who managed to see Sally, with her hand extended toward one of the bridge’s doors, making her way over to it. 

He’d seen Annabeth use the Force in the forest, but it was nothing like this.

Before he could marvel too much, Leo started to make his way to where she was heading. “Open bridge door seven! The general is making her way back! Open it!” He started running, Jason and Festus being given no other option but to follow. 

No one had tried to open it. Medical Personnel had instead started to wheel a cot over, complete with oxygen masks and an I.V. Leo slammed his fist to open the airtight door as Sally rested her palm on the glass. When it opened, the woman collapsed into his arms, and he situated her onto the cot as Jason closed the door again. 

He noticed Leo subtly take the homing beacon off of her wrist, tossing it to Jason as no one paid the pilot any attention. Leo nodded in acknowledgement, following the medical team as they wheeled her out of the hallway and into the sick bay. “Out of the way, everyone!” He ordered, Half-Bloods clearing the path for them. 

Jason ran his thumb over the pulsing beacon, standing in the middle of the hallway as everyone moved to the command room. With their primary bridge gone, what else were they supposed to do?

He was going to follow behind Leo when he found a satchel on the ground. It might’ve belonged to someone fatally wounded. 

They had to find a way out of this mess and away from the Titans. As long as they could get as far as they could from those snakes, then everything will be fine, and Annabeth will have a safe return. 

Instead of dwelling, he followed behind other Half-Bloods heading to their backup control room.

When he arrived, Leo was already there. “Long time no see,” his friend joked. He may be kidding, but his tense shoulders and hands that were brought up to his mouth were nothing but humorous. “The meds kicked me out as soon as they got to the sick bay.”

Jason nodded. If Leo had noticed the satchel now wrapped around his body, he didn’t say anything. He was probably too distracted from worrying about the general. Seemed like both of them were too stressed out about girls that have proved time and time again that they were fine on their own. It didn’t stop their alarm, however. 

Everyone trickled into the room slowly. Finally, a man cleared his throat to get the attention of the room. The murmuring stopped, and the emphasis was all on this man. “My name is Dionysus, in case you don’t know me.”

Leo rolled his eyes, leaning in close to whisper, “This dude never even learned my name, and I’ve been around since forever.”

Already, Jason had a bad feeling about this guy, but he continued to speak, “General Blofis, _Sally…_ she’s unconscious, but recovering as we speak. Unfortunately, that is the only good news. Our leadership, Admiral Hedge, the rest of our leading officers… they’re gone.”

The muttering started again. Leo bowed his head, and Jason patted him on the back. His mind was racing everywhere. With no one around to lead them, how were they going to make their decisions from here on out? Why are they just sitting in this room when they should be lightspeed skipping in some kind of attempt to shake the Titans off? They shouldn’t be here. What are they doing?

“But if the general were here, she’d tell us to save our sorrow for after the fight. And now, it is clear to everyone who should be taking that place.” Leo sat up at Dionysus’ words, the soot from the hanger explosion still covering his face. “Vice Admiral Chiron, from our Golden Fleece cruiser.”

Leo deflated, practically sagging against Jason’s shoulder. He might’ve only been here for about two days, but he learned very quickly how much Leo yearns for leadership positions. He knew exactly what was wrong when another tall, older man with brown hair and a brown beard stood in the center of the room, looking at all the Demigods. 

“Thank you, Dionysus,” Chiron nodded to the other in acknowledgement. He laced his hands together, sighing as he said, “There’s five hundred of us on three ships. We’re the very last of the Half-Bloods. But, we aren’t alone. In the deepest corners of the galaxy, the oppressed and less fortunate know of the orange pegasus, of our symbol. They see it and they restore their hope. We are all that’s left to restore the spark to light the Titans on fire. As Half-Bloods, we must keep that spark alive. It is our mission to do so.”

Leo sighed again, but Chiron didn’t even hear the young pilot. “I won’t lie to you. When the Titans fired on the primary bridge, they took out part of our hyperdrive. We can only make one lightspeed jump before our ship breaks down. With the Titans tracking us, we have no choice but to stay here. With that being said, we’re concocting a plan to get us safely somewhere where we can send our distress signal. Back to your stations, Half-Bloods. We will find the light to get us out of these dark times.”

Leo slapped him on the knee as everyone stood, making their way to their posts. “I’ll be back. We need a plan, and I want to know what’s going on.” He didn’t wait for any sort of response, instead making his way over to the new leader. 

Jason, on the other hand, clutched at his satchel and ducked his way out of the room. He still didn’t have a station, though he suspected it would end up being ‘Leo Valdez’s Gunner’. Admiral Chiron could come up to him right now and give him a job, but it wouldn’t matter. He’s got somewhere he needs to be.

Annabeth wouldn’t be safe coming back here. No doubt the Titans already had a bounty on her, and if they saw her returning in the Argo, there’s no doubt Perseus would come out on his personal shuttle and blow her to pieces. He needed to find somewhere safe where she could land, and it definitely wasn’t here.

He opened the satchel, finding a blaster already tucked inside. 

Perfect. 

He’ll go to Maine, maybe, and wait for her there. He just needed to be somewhere that wasn’t this mess. Maybe he should tell Leo, but he’d probably end up convincing him to stay, and he couldn’t do that right now. 

If this ship was anything like the Nemesis, then the escape pods would be on the very last level. He found a set of stairs, trying to make himself appear nonchalant to every Half-Blood he passed. He arrived at the pods, widening his eyes because he actually found it. 

Except his short victory was ruined when he saw a sobbing girl clutching a dagger right next to the pods. 

Jason squinted at the sniffling girl, taking very light footsteps as he made his way to the pods. If he stepped light enough, he could almost believe that he wasn’t heard. He clutched the straps to his satchel tighter. The girl seemed to be too busy crying to actually notice him. 

He pressed a couple of buttons on his selected pod, opening it as he started thinking of locations to go when he heard a soft, “What are you doing here?” 

Jumping back, he threw his satchel into the pod. He turned to face the girl, noticing she had controlled herself a bit better. She still had tear marks down her cheeks, but her dark brown eyes that were staring at him in confusion distracted him. Her brown hair was tied into a ponytail, half of it sticking out in a wild mess.

Well honestly, the whole girl looks like a mess. 

He can’t talk, though. He’s wearing one of Leo’s white shirts that was a bit too small for him, Leo’s pants that were definitely too small for him, and Leo’s jacket that fit fine. He doesn’t look any better. Instead of answering her question, however, he decided to greet himself. “Hi. Hey. Hello there. Uh… I was.. Um..”

“Wait!” The girl’s eyes lit up. “You’re Jason! _The_ Jason!”

Now that’s a first. _“The_ Jason?”

“Sorry,” she smacked a hand to her forehead. “I work with the pipes all day. I don’t talk with Half-Blood heroes. I’ve never talked with the higher ups before.” She paused, taking a second to wipe her cheeks as she looked back at him. “I’m Piper. Piper Mclean.”

She started puffing out short breaths of air, which made him furrow his eyebrows. She must’ve been crying pretty hard to make her this shaken up. She wasn’t starstruck, more surprised. But still, seeing a ‘hero’ after sobbing probably didn’t do good on her respiratory system. “Breathe,” he told her, unconsciously taking a breath himself. 

“Breathe,” she repeated, inhaling in her nose and out her mouth. “Okay, yeah.”

“Look, I’m not a Half-Blood hero.” He momentarily remembered having to explain to Annabeth that he had lied about his entire backstory while he was actually an ex Giantrooper. He thought back to why he was here. He needed to get out of this conversation. “It was really nice talking to you, Piper.” 

He stuffed his hands in his pockets as she chuckled quietly. Piper continued to stare at him, her smile never wavering from her face. He had no choice but to awkwardly smile back. An uncomfortable silence fell over them, making everything ten times weirder. Any second now… “You’ve done a good job helping restore peace to the galaxy.”

She probably _has_ done a better job then him, considering he’s been here four days, spending two of them knocked out. It still didn’t stop her from whispering a breathy, “Wow.” She stepped onto the platform with him, smiling up at him. “No, but you _are_ a hero. I mean, you left the Titans and then you rescued that girl from the Nemesis and fought _Perseus._ That’s sick, dude!”

He was uneasy at how close she was to him. If he moved his shoulder the wrong way, she’d one hundred percent be able to see his satchel inside the pod. But she continued talking, saying, “When my sister Lacy heard about it, she told me, ‘Piper, that’s a real hero. They know right from wrong. They don’t run away when it gets hard. You know…” She took a stun gun out of a holster she had on her hip, activating it for him to see.

Jason took a step back. He hated her description of him. He lied about his past, left Annabeth by herself, and he wasn’t even there for Leo right now as he struggles with being ignored. He deserved to be stunned. “I’ve had to take out three people trying to jump ship in the escape pods. Just this morning!”

Never mind. He took it back. She can put that thing away. Because when she realizes, he’s going to die. This five foot crying girl was going to kill him. But he pretended to be innocent. Maybe he could still get out of this. “What? Really?”

She nodded, almost laughing at the deserters. “Yes! They were trying to run away.”

“That’s disgraceful.” He almost flinched when he remembered the fake last name he gave Annabeth and Festus. Disgraceful indeed. 

“I know!” Piper agreed. She shrugged, putting her stun gun back in its holster. He thought he was safe, but then he noticed her eyes flickering inside the opened escape pod.

He draped his arm across the other side, standing so he blocked the entire pod from her view. His hands were suddenly clammy. “Anyway, I gotta get back to what I was doing, so-”

Her bright smile had disappeared, replaced by a frown so serious, she seemed like a whole new person. “What were you doing?” 

He gestured to the other pods. “Doing some.. chec-”

“Checking the escape pods,” she cut off. She took several steps back, walking around the escape pod bay. “By boarding one with a packed bag.”

He didn’t know how to defend himself. She swallowed hard, a lump still in her throat from crying as she glared at him. He stared at her, his confident act evaporating as he took on a scowl. He couldn’t waste any more time. He had somewhere to be, and it wasn’t arguing with this tiny girl. “Okay, listen.” He stepped towards her. “I-”

Without seeing it coming (though he should’ve), Piper took her stun gun out and jabbed it into Jason’s chest, collapsing at her feet and knocking out for the second time in four days. 

* * *

“There’s no light left in Perseus,” Annabeth explained, sitting across from Grover. “He’s only gaining strength. The Titans are going to control all major systems within a couple of weeks. We really need your help. We need the Demigods back.” She took a step towards him. “We need Grover Underwood.”

Grover shook his head, staring at Mrs. O’Leary sitting next to her. “You don’t need Grover Underwood.”

She stared at him puzzled. “Did… Did you hear any of that? I-”

“What?” He motioned to Spatha at her hip. “Do you think I can just walk out with a laser sword in front of the Titans and face them all down?” She never said he had to do it by himself, but he rose to stand in front of her before she could say anything. “What did the Half-Bloods think was going to happen when they sent you? Do they think I came to the most unfindable place in the galaxy for no reason?” He turned around, not saying anything to her as he walked up some stairs. 

She thought the new day would’ve been better for him. That in the morning, he’d realize how much he’s still needed. She stomped after him, shouting, “I’m not leaving without you!”

He didn’t say anything back, but that was expected. She looked back at Mrs. O’Leary, then continued to follow him. She trudged up the stairs, the staff strapped to her back hitting her on the knee with each step she took. He went around a corner, the bright morning sunlight beaming down on them. She sighed, jogging a bit when she saw him come in contact with some cows.

She never saw cows back on San Francisco. She smiled down at the little animals, watching as Grover squatted next to one with a jug he had in his pack. She hadn’t even realized he brought anything with him. Her smile faded into a horrified expression when he started squeezing some tubes on the underbelly of the cow, the liquid pooling in the jug. 

Atlas used to talk about cows giving milk, and how pissed off he used to get about never being able to get any. She watched as Grover raised his jug to his lips, gulping down his white drink as a bit of it dribbled onto his beard. She still hadn’t ever seen anyone freshly get milk out of a cow, so it was scary to see him drink it straight up from the poor animal. 

At least the cow didn’t mind. It moved its head towards her, making a sound in her face. She looked back to Grover as he stood, licking his lips for emphasis that he simply didn’t care what she thought. He brushed past her, walking to a set of stairs that went even higher. 

As bad as she felt for the poor cow, she followed Grover anyways. He threw his bag on the ground, setting his jar of milk down next to it. He picked up the top of a long pole where the bottom was lost in the water. He swung across to the other side on a narrow ledge that didn’t look like it could hold him.

Annabeth wanted to scream at him to be careful, but she closed her mouth when he landed safely on the other side. Grover glanced at her, smiling a little as if she was being ridiculous. He lifted his pole, watching the water as he sunk it back in. The clouds above roared, warning her of a thunderstorm. 

She’d experienced thunderstorms and rain on San Francisco, but she hated it. The rain was hot drops of water that burned when it made contact with her skin. The thunder was no different, roaring loudly in the middle of the night as she curled herself into a ball, alone in the desert. Needless to say, she was dreading the incoming thunder and rain. 

Grover moved past her again, and she hadn’t even realized he swung back to her side of the cliff. He had a large fish draped across his shoulders, walking down the stairs. She almost groaned out loud. How did he do this all day, every day? She followed him once again all the way to his hut, just for him to slam the door shut in her face.

Oh, well. Looks like she needed to wait outside of it now. 

When he presumingly put his fish away, he came out to see her again. He sighed, tilting his head at her. “You’re wasting your time.”

Annabeth shrugged, not responding. She wasn’t going to go anywhere without him. If Sally needed her to bring back Grover Underwood, then Grover Underwood would be coming back with her. 

He stared at her for a beat, then narrowed his eyes at her. “Who are you?” She gaped at him, unsure of what to answer. When she hesitated, he started talking again. “You’ve seen this place before. You’ve seen the island.”

“Only in dreams,” she admitted. She thought back to Perseus reading her mind, taunting her with the island she dreamed of surrounded by the water. It was this one. Labyrinth had some sort of connection to her, though she couldn’t explain it. 

“Who are you?” He asked again. 

She’s already told him her name. What more does he need? “The Half-Bloods sent me.” 

“They sent _you?”_ Ouch. “What’s so special about you?” Truthfully, she couldn’t answer because even she didn’t know. She looked down at her feet, but he continued his interview. “Where are you from?”

“Nowhere.”

She could hear his eye roll. “No one’s from nowhere.”

“San Francisco.” She brought her eyes back up to him as the rain began to fall. She resisted her urge to flinch, surprised to find that it didn't hurt. Cool water splashed against her skin, her hair becoming damp. She suppressed a smile. This was much different rain, and she wanted to go out and touch it. 

But Grover nodded his head, agreeing with her. “Yeah, that is pretty much nowhere.” He tilted his head, stepping back into his hut to protect from the rain. He didn’t invite her in. “Why are you here, Annabeth from nowhere?”

“The Half-Bloods sent me,” she repeated. “We need your help. The Titans are nearly unstoppable.” She was barely able to beat a mortally wounded Perseus in the fight. She couldn’t imagine what he’s like at full strength. 

“And why are you here?” 

She understood the question. He wanted to know her intentions that went beyond the Half-Bloods. She squinted rain out of her eyes, trying to come up with an answer. He knew Sally wouldn’t send just anyone. He knew she had another reason to be there. 

Annabeth swallowed. “It’s like… there’s something inside me that just woke up. I’m afraid of it because I don’t know what it is or what I’m supposed to do with it.” He nodded. He grasped her explanation of the Force awakening in her. “I need help.”

“You need a teacher.” His words were close to Perseus’. Too close. “I can’t teach you.”

She furrowed her eyebrows. He started turning around to go into his hut, but she followed him in. The water dripped down her body, her hair soaked as she seeped onto his floor, but she could care less. “Why not? I’ve just seen your daily routine and you’re not busy.” Her eyes drifted to the dead fish on his makeshift bed. 

“I won’t teach another generation of Demigods. I can’t protect them. I was never able to. It’s time for the Demigods to end.”

“Why?” She stepped out of the hut, gesturing to the nothingness of the island. “There’s nothing here for you. Look, Sally sent me here with hope. If she was wrong, she deserves to know what happened. Everyone does.”

Grover didn’t say another word. He closed the door to the hut, walking past her and in the direction of the Argo. She didn’t follow him this time. He’d find Blackjack in there. She made her way back to her own hut, but didn’t feel the need to go inside. 

Annabeth allowed a hesitant smile to spread on her face. Her ponytail may be sopping wet and she only had one cloak and a blanket that the Half-Bloods sent her to keep warm, but she couldn’t find herself caring. She’d never been around rain that didn’t hurt her. She leaned against her door, noticing the hole in the wall was still there. She reached a hand out to touch the delicate droplets of water, letting it plaster onto her fingertips. 

Suddenly, an eerie silence fell through her ears, the thunder ceasing to exist. She dreaded everything when she felt the presence. She turned around, pushing off of the wall to see Perseus standing in front of her again. 

Did he really have to ruin a good thing?

Her lips parted as they stared at each other for a bit, neither knowing what to do. She knew it wasn’t him, and he knew it wasn’t her. Yet, they both knew exactly what was doing it, but between the two of them, there was no explanation as to _how._

“Why is the Force connecting us?” Perseus asked as if she knew the answer. “You and I?”

Annabeth found her voice as flashbacks from the forest popped in her head. If she hadn’t woken up when she did, he would’ve killed Jason like he did his own father. “Murderous snake! You’re too late! You’ve lost. I found Underwood.”

He didn’t flinch at her insults. He looked at her with eyes that were almost pitiful. What does he have to be sorrowful about? “Did he tell you what happened?” What? “The night I destroyed his temple. Did he tell you what happened? Did he tell you why?” 

She never even asked. But Posiedon had told her the events that unfolded. She didn’t need to. “I know everything I need to know about you.” 

“You do?” He quirked an eyebrow, stepping towards her. If she walked back, she’d be against the wall, and she didn’t like that. She stood her ground as he smiled, dragging his eyes down her figure before they went back up. She ignored his sensual look, glaring at him. “Ah, you do.”

She opened her mouth to retaliate when he started speaking again. “You have that look in your eyes from the forest.” She can’t imagine having any kind of look while drenched in rain, but he continued to study her face. “The one when you called me a monster.”

“You _are_ a monster.”

The corner of his mouth lifted as he said, “Yes I am.”

She didn’t expect him to agree with her.

His small smile faded, his expression turning into a heated stare. As he just _looked at her,_ sound began to return to her ears. Perseus’ presence weakened until he was no longer in front of her, and she stood absentmindedly in the rain. 

As soon as Annabeth took a step into her hut, a knock from her door startled her. She whipped around, expecting it to be Perseus. But she saw Grover standing in front of her, almost completely dry even though he walked in the rain too after getting his fish. How long was she outside for?

“You really enjoy rain, don’t you?” He examined her wet body as she began to make a small pool at her feet. Before she could open her mouth to answer, he said, “Look, I talked with Blackjack for a bit. I’ll… I’ll give you three lessons. Only three, the first starting when this rain ends. I’ll teach you the ways of the Demigods, and why they need to end.”

He didn’t wait for a response. He walked out, but not before giving her an extra blanket. From the outside, she could see Mrs. O’Leary happily running around in the rain. Grover closed the door, leaving her alone in her hut. 

Annabeth didn’t need to ask him about what Perseus did to his Demigod temple. She knew exactly what kind of villain he was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'mma be real I've been pretty unmotivated but this chapter is FINALLY DONE and I'm listening to TROYE SIVAN so life is GOOD


	3. Some Sneaky Sketchy Stuff

Annabeth followed Grover up the stairs, though she didn’t know why. 

He continued to guide her to the very top of a mountain, where the ground was still damp. The rain itself had stopped. Her hair was still wet, but less than before. Her ponytail puffed up, the cloak covering her body making her warm. The sun shone, the rays hot on her arms. 

Hey, if you were going to isolate yourself to an island to never see humanity again, at least it’s a nice one. 

They walked through a large stone building. She saw the Demigod symbol plastered everywhere, with vines and moss covering most of the walls. Some of the ceiling was missing, yet everything else was intact. She saw a staircase leading down, but not in the direction of the island. She wondered where it went.

He led her out of the building to the edge of a cliff, where a larger rock sat. She saw an engraving on the bottom of the rock. It was two Demigods, one with a blue lightsaber and the other one she recognized as Spatha. It was a male and a female, their blades stuck in a parry. The engraving was a mosaic, so she couldn’t tell who they were.

The island had some sort of connection to the Force. She could tell, if not by her little chats with Perseus, then by the sheer power in her body. She hadn’t used the Force during her time here, but she could still feel it moving through her. 

“Master Underwood,” she addressed as she looked at the mosaic with interest. “We need you to bring the Demigods back.” She thought back to the conversation that took place two hours prior. “Perseus is getting stronger with the dark side of the Force. If we don’t have the Demigods, the Half-Bloods stand no chance against him.”

“Hmm,” he hummed. She stood back as he prepped a leg against the rock. “And what exactly do you know about the Force.”

“Not much,” she admitted. “The Demigods used it to make rocks… float. And the Titans use it to read minds and get what they want.” At least that's how she’s seen it be used in the past couple of days. 

“Impressive.” Grover took his foot off the rock, staring out to the open ocean in front of them. “Every word you just said in that sentence was wrong.”

Well, yeah. She grew up in a place where no one had heard of the Force unless you listened to some random old lady off the street. The Titans and Half-Bloods never went anywhere near her little planet because of how isolated it was. Of course she was going to get things wrong about it. She rubbed at her arm self consciously. He didn’t have to be so mean about it, right?

Maybe he wasn’t and she was just being sensitive. She had two days to do basic research on everything before she came to the island. She couldn’t learn much, seeing as the only other person who could actually help her was Sally and the woman wasn’t here. Leo tried, but all he could really offer her was a laugh that she was grateful for.

Grover bent down, grabbing a large leaf that had been on the floor and pointing it to the rock. “Okay, lesson one. Sit here with your legs crossed.”

Annabeth stepped over the mosaic, settling on the rock and adjusting herself so she sat comfortably. Considering it was a rock, she gave up quickly. He put his hands behind his back, studying her as she waited expectantly for him to give her the next set of instructions. 

“The Force isn’t some kind of power that you have. It’s not about controlling people or lifting rocks. It’s the energy between all things. It’s a balance. That balance binds the universe together.”

“Okay,” she nodded. She could understand what he was saying. It wasn’t necessarily a power, per say. But beyond that, she was still a bit confused, and she itched for the knowledge. “But what is it?” 

“Close your eyes,” he instructed. She did so, putting all of her trust in him. “Breathe.” She inhaled in her nose, out her mouth. “Good. Now… reach out.”

She lifted her hand in front of her. It was the way Perseus did every time he ever did anything, and she almost put her hand down when she realized she was mimicking him. But then, she felt something. It was a tickling sensation in her hand, going across her knuckles and out toward her wrist. 

Annabeth gasped at the feeling. It wasn’t the same feeling that’s been following her around the island. “There’s something! I feel it!” 

“You feel it?” Grover asked in a hushed whisper. “It’s the Force.”

“Oh, wow!” Did this mean she was vulnerable to it? What was it about this exact spot that made her sense it? “I’ve never felt anythi-”

A hard twip hit her in the hand. For a second, she stupidly believed it to be the dark side. But when she opened her eyes and drew her hand back, she saw Grover staring at her with tired eyes. He held his leaf in his hand, and she drew the correlation between the tickling and the green stem. Well, she wasn’t lying when she said she never felt anything like it… 

It took a couple of seconds (to rub her hand… who knew leaves hurt?) for it to dawn on her what he actually meant. He tossed the leaf aside as he stared at her with wide eyes. She wondered if Mrs. O’Leary was having a better time in the Argo. Or even Jason and Leo back at Camp Half-Blood, _not_ being whacked with leaves. 

She ducked her head for a minute, looking back at him to reassess his earlier instructions. “You meant reach out as in…” She gestured to her chest, trying to let him know she understood him now. How else was she supposed to get it if he wouldn’t explain it right? 

“Yes, reach out as in spiritually,” Grover confirmed. 

Annabeth readjusted her position on the rock. Water from her hair started dripping down onto the rock, but the sun was soaking everything up. At least she wasn’t a wet mess anymore. She nodded to herself, settling her hands on her knees as she looked out to the ocean. “I’ll try again.”

Once again closing her eyes, she reached out not so literally this time. 

He grabbed her hand, putting his on top of hers as he told her, “Breathe. Just breathe.” 

Her fingers dug into the solid rock, her fingernails getting small pebbles stuck inside of them. She didn’t focus on that, instead reaching out like he told her to. When he took his hand off, she allowed hers to relax, only the tips of her fingers lightly touching the rock. 

She continued to steady her breathing, and she could hear Grover’s footsteps move in front of her. “Use your feelings and reach out. Now, what do you see?”

Her body practically went limp as Annabeth found herself floating above the island. She couldn’t see her body; just the surroundings. She realized she was using the Force to suspend herself upward. The island just _screamed_ of the Force. With this and the mosaic, she understood why Grover came here specifically. 

The island wasn’t just a random place for him to exile himself to. That building they had walked through earlier was the first Demigod Temple. Poseidon had mentioned that Grover went looking for it. Well, he found it. But he didn’t seem to want to leave it anytime soon. That’s the part that kinda sucked. 

“What do you see?” Grover repeated. 

With the Force so powerful, it didn’t take a lot of effort to concentrate on anything. She let the Force pull her in whatever direction it wanted to, let it show her what it wanted to show her. Right now, it was showing her Labyrinth. 

“I see the island,” Annabeth said out loud. Her imagery shifted to flowers, then quickly to fossils and bones below the ground, but with grass growing out of it. “Life, death and decay. But it gives energy for new life to grow.” 

The same mountain they were on came into her vision, the sun shining bright. Goosebumps went up her arms when she no longer felt nearly as cold. Then, to the blue ocean, where water icier than rain splashed against the rocks. “Warmth, and cold.” A mother bird tending to her younglings was next, only for an empty nest with cracked eggs being destroyed by a wave to follow. “Peace. Violence.” 

“And between it all?” Grover’s voice was suddenly behind her, but she didn’t lose focus.

With life came death, and death gave new life. The sun was blazing, with the cool water and wind having come just hours before. The peacefulness of the animals ripped away from the violent nature of the island. “Balance.” 

It was an energy that existed in everything. A Force. 

“What can you feel inside you?”

“The same Force.”

“Now _that’s_ the lesson,” he whispered, almost afraid of shattering the moment. “That Force doesn’t belong to the Demigods. The light side isn’t only for us, the same way the Titans don’t own the dark side. It’s just the choice you make, and what side you choose. To say that if the Demigods die, the light dies, is insanity. Do you feel it?” 

The light inside her glowed, but something was trying to dim it. At the bottom of this mountain, there was a large hole. There were weeds and dead plants growing around it, unlike the greenery on the surface. The hole was completely dark, with none of that light shining in. She wanted to know what it was. She was curious. She wanted to go see what it was. 

“There’s something else at the bottom of the mountain,” she told him just in case he didn’t know. 

_Annabeth!_ It called out. _I know who your parents are. You don’t have to go looking for other ones to replace that empty feeling. I know exactly where they are. Just come down here… come join us._

She jolted, but didn’t break out of her focus. She needed to keep hearing what it was saying. She wanted to go down there and find out what it knew, and how it knew. She wanted to go join it as long as she was given answers. The answers she’d been looking for all her life were down there. All she had to do was follow it.

“There’s a place.” She continued to listen to its whispers, surprised when she heard her own voice in her ears. “It’s a dark place.” 

Though she could barely hear him over the thousands of whispers, Grover kept talking to her. “Balance. If there’s powerful light, there’s powerful darkness to meet it.”

She didn’t know how, but she could feel water running down her neck and body. It wasn’t sweat, because it was the coldest thing she’s ever touched. The water burned, but not because it was acid. The more she tried to shut out the whispers that were screaming at her, the lower the temperature dropped. 

Annabeth was losing control of her body. She felt herself cracking the surface of the rock she was sitting on with the Force, and she could sense the pebbles floating around her. But it wasn’t her doing it. She was ready to submit to the voices, to go down to the hole so she could stop the cold water. So she could stop involuntarily using the Force 

For a moment, she saw all things connected to the Force. Everything except- 

_Annabeth. This is where you belong. You know this is where you belong. I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Then you’ll join us. Join the other outcasts. The Half-Bloods and Demigods reject us just because we use the Force differently. Come down here, Annabeth. Please._

“It’s calling me,” she whimpered. The voices were becoming too much. Not only would joining them get them to stop, but they’d give her all the knowledge she could want. She’d no longer need to wonder because it’d be given to her. She just has to go down there.

“Resist it, Annabeth!” Grover shouted, louder than all the whispers. She listened as they reassured her that she’d be fine, and she’d be getting everything she wanted. “Annabeth! Annabeth, you’re stronger than this! _ANNABETH!”_

She opened her eyes when her entire body became drenched in the freezing water, her skin screaming at her to get it off. Her cloak was no help as water dripped onto the cracked rock. She rocked forward onto her hands, no longer able to sit cross-legged. Her breathing was heavier than it’s ever been, and the sun was too bright for her sensitive eyes. 

“You went straight to the dark side,” Grover said from behind her. 

Annabeth crawled off of the rock, landing on the floor. The mountain was searing hot, but it helped relieve the sting from the water. She panted, holding onto the rock to steady herself. “That place was telling me something. It was trying to show me-”

“It offered you something you needed. You were going to it. You weren’t trying to stop yourself.”

She’d tried shutting out the whispers, but when it became too much, she stopped struggling. He was right. But he had also stopped struggling as well. He started walking away, but she wanted an answer. “I didn’t see you. I saw everything that was sensitive to the Force, except you.”

Grover paused, not turning around to face her. He glared at the mosaic as she said, “You closed yourself off from the Force.” 

“You’re strong, Annabeth.” He finally looked up at her, his eyes wild and almost panicked. “Even closed off, I can still sense you from time to time. I’ve only ever seen one other person as strong as you. It was Percy Jackson. It scared me then, but it scares me even more now.” He turned around, heading back into the temple and leaving her alone to shiver on the ground. 

He used that name again. Percy Jackson. She wanted to know what it meant. What purpose it held. Why did he change his name? She wanted to know. She wanted to know a lot of things, apparently.

Annabeth pressed her forehead to the mountain. She wanted to know if Jason and Leo were doing okay.

* * *

Jason woke up with an electric taste in his mouth, but at least his body wasn’t on fire anymore.

He tried to sit up, and when he couldn’t, he was suddenly flashed back to earlier. He’d been tased by a girl who was watching the escape pods to make sure there were no deserters. To her, he looked exactly like one. He was trying to leave with a fully packed bag while doing ‘routine checks’. It’s the work of an amature, really. 

Then again, he’d only ever snuck off a ship once before, and he had help. He was totally alone here. Not like he’d done such a good job beforehand, losing the one other person he was escaping with. He probably should’ve thought this through way more. 

His head was the only part of his body he was able to move. He turned, and he realized he was being whisked away on top of some type of cart. “I can’t move,” he exclaimed, his body unresponsive. “I can’t move.” 

“Yeah, I know,” came the girl’s voice. Piper was strong. He wasn’t a small guy, and she was a tiny girl. She was able to pull him along with little struggle. He was impressed. 

But being impressed didn’t stop him from freaking out. “Wait wait wait. What happened?”

“You’re going to the brig, buddy. I’m turning you in for desertion.” Piper spoke with a venom in her voice. 

She might’ve been angry about his deserting, but there was something else there too. She had another reason to be upset with him, though he couldn’t guess what it was. She was _just_ talking about admiring him. Now she can’t even look at him.

“I wasn’t deserting!” He protested, his heavy tongue making it hard to speak. “I can’t feel my teeth. What did you shoot me with!?” He couldn’t imagine the nightmare if Chiron, or god forbid, _Leo,_ saw him get turned in for trying to leave the ship, and he could barely talk to explain himself. He needed to get out of this as he can. “Look, let me-”

“My sister just died,” Piper interrupted. She didn’t shout. She stopped pulling the cart to walk over to him, her eyes filled with a rage that shook him to his core. “She was protecting the fleet. Her name is Lacy, and she was one of the three bombers who sacrificed themselves to blow that dreadnought. And you’re running away.”

Leo told him about how he helped a bomb ship take out the Talos, but it was very brief. Jason should’ve guessed that if his talkative friend wasn’t bragging about it, something must’ve gone wrong. It was odd at first, but now he wanted to clobber Leo over the head for not explaining the full story. 

“I’m sorry,” Jason told her, because it’s all he could think to say. It took him a second to shake it off, as horrible as it sounds. He had somewhere he needed to be, and it would hurt more people the longer he stayed. “But this fleet is doomed. My friend is supposed to get here, but if she comes back then she’s doomed too. I’ve gotta get this-”

He cut himself off when he tried to move his arm but forgot that his limbs were struck with electricity. He used his full strength and self control to shrug his arm over his chest, showing off the device Leo had given him. “I’ve gotta get this homing beacon away from here. She’ll find me somewhere else, and she’ll be safe. She’s training to be a Demigod. She can’t die if she’s the last one.”

But Piper wasn’t here for it. “You’re selfish and a traitor. What’s your friend going to do when she realizes you abandoned your post?”

Honestly, he hadn’t thought any of this through. In truth, Annabeth would probably be very disappointed. She wouldn’t want him to leave the ship. She’d come back here no matter the risks. As long as there was a greater good, she put that first. He really needed a better plan next time he tried to jump ship. 

The ship was nowhere safe for anyone to be, and he didn’t think Piper knew what had happened above. “We can’t outrun the Titans’ fleet.”

She walked back to the front of the cart, grabbing a hold of the handle to start pulling him away. “We’ll jump to lightspeed.” She said it as if it were that simple. 

“They can track us through lightspeed.”

She paused, looking at him with confusion. “They can track us through lightspeed?” 

“Yeah,” he nodded, regaining some control over his body. “We jumped, and they showed up thirty seconds later. They broke part of the hyperdrive, so we only have one jump left. But if we don’t jump soon, the hyperdrive will completely blow out and we won’t be able to do anything at lightspeed, and that goes for all three fleets. We need to find our new base, but it wouldn’t be possible with them at our toes.”

“They can track us through lightspeed,” she repeated. “They’re active tracking.”

“They’re what?” 

“No one has hyperspaced tracked since the Tartarus days because the tech is dangerous, and with the right shot it can explode,” Piper explained, dropping the handle and walking over to him. “But it has to be the same as any other tracker. And trackers that take up _that_ much juice need massive power. So they’re only tracking us through the lead ship!” 

The Nyx. How perfect. He thought blowing up one base would be good enough. 

“There’s no way to get to the tracker.” Piper bit her thumb, sitting next to his leg since his outstretched body took up most of the cart. “It’s an A class protocol, and they’ll have to be controlling it from the main bridge.”

“Every A class process has a dedicated power breaker,” Jason contributed. His usefulness since leaving the Titans still went on, even after they’ve destroyed the Nemesis. “You mess with the breaker, the tracker turns off. You destroy the tracker, the whole ship goes boom.”

“But who knows where a breaker on the Nyx would be?” Piper wondered out loud.

Did she suddenly forget who she was talking to? “Well, I _am_ the guy who used to mop it before I was transferred to the Nemesis for battle.” Maybe not something he should brag about, but the information was surely useful. “If I can find a way in there…”

“Someone could shut the tracker down,” Piper agreed. She was no longer spitting hate with her eyes. She was smiling at him again, her hope restored now that she knows he wasn’t giving up. “Try to sit up,” she encouraged.

With some difficulty, Jason found himself able to push up from his elbows and rise.

She clapped her hands together. “The stun gun is only supposed to last a few minutes. It’s just until I can get you on the brig.”

He stood with wobbly feet when the five minutes ended, gesturing for her to follow. “C’mon, we gotta go tell Leo. He’ll know what to do to get on board.”

As they made their way out the escape pod bay, Jason was no longer trying to avoid every person he saw. He went straight to Sally’s medbay room, where he guessed Leo may be spending his time if he wasn’t trying to get on Chiron’s bad side. Again. 

Sure enough, he found his friend sitting on a stool next to Sally, Tyson keeping him company. Leo was skimming a book, his ears practically perking up when he saw them. His eyes quickly glanced to Piper with a small scowl before turning back to Jason, his expression softening the slightest. She didn’t seem to notice, so Jason pretended not to. 

“What happened?” Leo asked, partially alarmed. 

“Hi, I’m Piper.” She extended her hand towards him, and he shook it hesitantly. “You’re Leo! Aren’t you like… the best pilot we have.”

Leo’s wary expression faded, and he grinned at her. “I would say that title goes back and forth between me and Annabeth. But I _did_ blow up the Nemesis, so…” 

“Anyways!” Jason cut in before anyone could start rambling about good piloting skills. “Whatever we say, you’re not going to report, right?”

“What? No, of course not,” he glanced at Sally before returning his gaze to the duo. “I don’t trust Chiron’s leadership. He refused to tell me what’s going on because I’m just a captain now and apparently I don’t have authority.” When Jason made a face, he rolled his eyes. “Don’t look at me like that. It wasn’t my fault. Sally was just… a little riled up and took it out on me.”

While he can’t imagine Sally ever losing her cool, he decided it wasn’t a topic to bring up right now. He ignored Piper’s whisper of awe as he said, “So, the Titans are only tracking us from the Nyx. If we get to the breaker room and destroy the tracker, the whole ship could potentially blow, getting rid of another base.”

“Alright,” Leo nodded, taking in what they said. “So what I’m hearing is we need to blow up the Nyx.”

“I get where your thinking is going, but _no._ They might be able to start tracking us from their other ship, the Chaos.”

“You’d have to sneak on board and disable the tracker,” Piper peeped in. “They wouldn’t realize, and we-”

“We could jump to our location,” Jason finished. “They wouldn’t notice it’s off for one system cycle, unless it blows. But at least it’d be disabled. We’ll be able to make our jump, but we’d only have six minutes.”

“If we sneak on board and disable the tracker, the fleet would be able to get away, safely, before they realize. Blowing up the base would be the best case scenario, though.” Piper stood next to him, both waiting for a response.

Jason crouched next to Leo, staring at him with a silent plea. They needed him to agree with them. If Chiron wouldn’t tell Leo the plan for the entirety of the Half-Bloods, then this is their one chance at doing something. They needed to take matters into their own hands, no matter the risks. 

Leo stood from his stool, glancing outside to the open space. He gestured between Jason and Piper, asking, “How’d you two meet?”

They shared a look, and he briefly feared that she’d sell him out. But Piper turned back to the pilot, a small smile on her face as she said, “Just luck.”

“Yeah?” Leo stared at Sally, his book tossed somewhere on the floor. He didn’t look back at them, keeping his focus on the woman. “Is it good luck?”

“Hopefully.” Maybe running into Piper and getting tased wasn’t horrible. Maybe it was what Jason needed to get a level head and start focusing on the task at hand instead of trying to jump ship. 

“Leo, we gotta do this.” Jason needed to get rid of any doubts that his friend had. “It’ll save the fleet. It’ll save Annabeth, and she’ll save the Demigods.”

Piper glanced at him when he said Annabeth’s name. Her name was the one spoken the most. _The Demigod… The girl… The hope,_ they whispered these days. Maybe it is kinda stupid for him to do all that when she can handle herself. Maybe he was just all woozy from whatever medicine he was given.

“What are you guys doing?” Tyson asked. They’d all forgotten he was there, jumping when he offered his input. “You know Admiral Chiron will never approve of this. He won’t get you guys on board.”

Leo glanced at Sally, then turned to smile at everyone. “Yeah, you’re right, Tyson. The plan is on a need to know basis, and he doesn’t need to know.”

“That’s not what I-”

“You two will shut down the tracker?” He raised an eyebrow, but there was an edge to his voice that sounded like he didn’t exactly agree to his own plan that he was concocting.

Piper shook her head. “Oh, no. I have some stuff to take care of here. I wasn’t just an overqualified security guard, you know. I think you should do it.”

Leo agreed without much protest. “Okay, so Jason and I will shut down the tracker. You stay here to jump us to lightspeed.”

“But how do we sneak the two of you on the Nyx?” Piper questioned. “Clearance codes?”

“They scramble them every hour, it’ll never work.” It’s happened before. Some ship will try to get on board just to be shut out because it’s a different code. They’d never make it in. “No one can get through those shields undetected.” 

Leo pointed at him. “Annabeth told me about some chick you guys met that knew like… everything. What was her name? And can you get into contact with her?” 

Jason understood immediately. He ran out the medbay to a holotable, punching buttons as he racked his brain trying to remember what Reyna told him. When Annabeth was abducted, Reyna had given him a way to contact her if he ever needed it. Well, now seems as good a time as ever. 

Reyna’s face appeared in the hologram, her black hair and purple robes appearing blue in the projection. She didn’t say anything, instead waiting for them to begin speaking as she sat patiently. They crowded the table, squishing together so she could see them.

“Uh, hi Reyna!” Jason greeted, clearing his throat when he shouted at the poor girl. “Well, we’re kinda under new leadership here while Sally recovers after an attack. The Titans are tracking us through lightspeed, and we need a way to get on the Nyx. Can you help us?”

“Can I help you?” She started laughing as if she couldn’t believe what they were asking. “Of course I can! But I can’t right now.”

The three of them exchanged looks, and Jason turned back to her nervously. “What do you mean?”

“I’m a little tied down at the moment,” Reyna explained. “There’s a union dispute over here on my end. Things got a little messy when the Titans decided to blow up my castle. Trust me, you do _not_ want to hear about it.”

“So, what do we do?” Leo whispered.

“Let me finish!” Reyna complained, and got back to her statement. _“I_ can’t do it, but luckily there’s a girl I know that can crack Titan level security. She’s a master codebreaker, incredibly smart, a pilot of a sort. She’s amazing at poems, too.”

“Wow!” Tyson exclaimed. “This codebreaker girl can do anything.”

“She sure can,” Reyna confirmed. “Her name is Ella, and we can trust her, don’t worry. You’ll find her with bright red hair, very petite. No doubt she’s wearing a green dress that shows off the scar on her back from when she got hit with a weed whacker. She’ll definitely be at a high stakes table in the Lotus Hotel on Las Vegas.” 

“Las Vegas? The party planet?” Leo whispered. “Yeah, no no. That’s… Reyna, is there any way we can do this by ourselves?”

Reyna shook her head. “Quite frankly, no. This is refined cracking you’re trying to do. If you want to get on the Nyx, you need a refined codebreaker. Find Ella, and you’ll be set.” Reyna waved as the hologram ended with a click, leaving three people with no clue on what they’re doing with a very loose plan. 

Leo sighed. “I don’t like the idea of going to Las Vegas at all.”

“There’s nothing else we can do.” Jason took the homing beacon off of his wrist, extending his arm to Piper to keep it. “Give us any updates you can, and we’ll tell you everything. Chiron doesn’t find out about anything. This stays between the four of us,” he gave a pointed look to Tyson. “Keep the beacon safe so my friend can get here fine.”

Piper nodded, taking the beeping beacon from him. “No worries.” 

“Tell Captain Rachel about the plan,” Leo declared, contradicting everything he just said. “We’re taking an escape pod, right? It’ll be too risky to grab a X-Wing from the other fleets, taking into account Chiron _and_ the Titans. She does a lot of stuff in the command room. She’ll tell Chiron we’re passing debris, whatever. But besides Rachel, absolutely no one else finds out about this.”

She looked around the room, staring at the holotable. “Lacy would be laughing if she saw what I was doing now.”

Leo gave her a pat on the shoulder. “I’m really sorry.”

She didn’t say anything, instead choosing to smile. “Okay, _go_ guys. You’re on a time crunch.”

Jason grabbed onto Leo’s arm as they snuck into the escape pod bay, bidding goodbye to Piper as they started their plan that can hardly be called a plan.

* * *

“Festus, _we know!”_ Leo yelled to his beeping droid. 

“What’s he saying?” Jason asked. He’s really gotta learn how to speak droid. It seems everyone can understand Festus but him. 

“That we’re going to get demoted to maintenance if we get caught, or get stranded out here if they make the lightspeed jump without us.” Leo rolled his eyes, dismissing the statement. He leaned against the escape pod pilot seat, allowing the autopilot to take them to the Lotus Hotel. “Happy beeps here, man.”

“Festus, we’ll be fine,” Jason assured. “We’ve got a com link with Piper, so we’ll be the first to know if they do end up making that jump. Plus, she could just tell us her location and such.”

“I do want to know though… What were you guys talking about that you decided to come up with a plan to sneak onto the Nyx? That’s not a conversation that comes up in small talk.”

Jason was racking his brain to think of an excuse when Festus saved him. The droid beeped wildly, rambling on about something he could not understand. Maybe he was just impatient because they’d been flying for around two hours now, unable to jump to hyperspace in fear that the Titans would track them, catch them, and kill them. 

But Leo pointed out the smudge in the distance, laughing at the beeps. “And _there’s_ Las Vegas. Oh, Festus… You are a work of art, my friend.”

“What happened?”

“He says we should abandon the pod when we get to the surface and just steal another one. Pfft, who would do that? This droid is a little crazy,” he laughed nervously. He suddenly tensed up, wiping his brow and turning away. 

As they got closer to the planet, they could already see the bright lights and fireworks exploding. The cheers of happy people who’d just spent their life savings on a game of poker filled his ears, the crass screams echoing in the air.

The pod led them to the Lotus Hotel by itself, landing on a beach. No other ships were parked in the area, but if all goes according to plan, they actually _wouldn’t_ be back. As much as Festus might’ve been joking about theft, it could end up being their only option.

As they exited the pod, Jason craned his neck up to see the _ginormous_ hotel. He used to work on the biggest ship in the galaxy, but he’s pretty sure this hotel was somehow larger. It had twinkling pink lights, fire coming out the side, with the numerous bright buildings surrounding it, yet not dimming its superiority. 

“This place is…” 

“Terrible.” 

Jason looked at Leo sideways to see the man’s jaw set, a scowl he had never seen before. Usually, the pilot is carefree with a smile on his face, his grin reaching his eyes. To see such a serious face on someone that’s so laid back… It was something he had never seen before, and it was out of place. 

“What’s wrong?” Jason asked, bumping his shoulder against Leo’s.

Leo wrly chuckled, looking down at the floor. “There’s so much more to this place than what meets the eye. I just wish stuff like this was taken more seriously.”

Jason waited for an explanation, but one never came. So instead, he pointed out a clearly tipsy girl walking out the hotel with a man wrapped around her waist, the two of them heading elsewhere. “Well, if we got stuck out here because Piper can’t communicate with us, then we’ll turn into these people. At least they’re having fun and not fighting an intergalactic war.”

Leo did laugh at that. A genuine laugh. “As if. I’d rather go through deep space and fly for years to look for the Peleus than get stranded here.”

There was truth to that, and Jason understood. This is a war they can’t walk out on. He knew it firsthand because he tried to. He tried to leave when he was given an out, but he was sucked back in when he realized the Titans weren’t going to stop unless they were defeated. He _wanted_ to leave when he recused Leo, more so when he thought the pilot dead, but then he fell into the grasps of Annabeth instead. He had a reason to fight, and people to fight alongside. 

It’s a strange thing to be the bad guy for so long. All it took was meeting the right people and the right time to get him out of the Titans. He helped Leo escape a Titan warship, and in turn, he was offered a place amongst the Half-Bloods. He was already talking with the general and going out on high stake (secret) missions. It was unbelievable.

The Titans would’ve had him fighting battle after battle, only pausing to let him mop the floor or fetch a drink for a figure of authority. He never had the choice. But _here,_ he was allowed to opt out. While deserting may be frowned upon, he didn’t have to agree to this mission.

Piper didn’t want to come, so she didn’t have to. Back with the Titans, if you don’t want to go on a raid, you’d probably be killed. You’d be considered defective, unable to latch onto General Luke’s training and scrapped. 

Jason made eye contact with Leo, the bright lights of the hotel shining on them. 

Yeah, he liked this way better than the Titans. 

* * *

Annabeth looked out the window of the Argo to see it was already dark outside.

At first, she hadn’t been doing anything. When she found her grounding, she made her way down the stairs of the temple, stopping only for a moment to stare at the other staircase. She was curious as to where it led, but she wouldn’t dare. With how strong the Force is here, she couldn’t imagine going down a random staircase. 

So, she sat with Mrs. O’Leary and Blackjack, playing a game of holochess with them. Blackjack wouldn’t stop beeping, telling her all about how he was friends with Mrs. O’Leary and Tyson since Hazel’s time. 

The three of them had been there when Hazel became a Demigod, then when she married Frank Zhang in secret. She learned that he was a senator on a planet called New Rome, and that he had died due to unusual circumstances. They saw Hazel’s fall to the dark side, and how Darth Pluto rose to create the Tartarus Empire. Then, she brought balance back to the Force by sacrificing herself to save her son. They were there when Grover became a legend, and watched as he left because of his nephew. Perseus made the balance unhinged when he decided to create the Titans. 

For a droid and a hellhound, their story was tragic.

Darkness rose in the form of the Titans, and there was no light to meet it. Perseus had brought back the dark side after it had been subdued, and Annabeth knew Grover would have to bring the light to the surface. 

When Mrs. O’Leary had gotten bored of the holochess games, she left and sat in the pilot’s seat, trying to get a hold of the Half-Bloods. She’d been at it for about an hour now, so Annabeth decided to go keep her company.

“Any word from them yet?” She asked.

Mrs. O’Leary shook her head. _No one’s picking up. It’s all a heap of static,_ the hellhound growled.

She lifted her cloak to stare at the homing beacon on her wrist. It still beeped, so she knew the one Sally had wasn’t destroyed. She couldn’t think of any reason for no one to answer, especially since the Half-Bloods knew her mission and location.“Keep trying.” Her mind rushed back to her unconscious friend, with Leo tending to him. She doesn’t know if he ever woke up. “Ask Leo about Jason.”

Annabeth stepped down the ramp, on her way to her hut when the familiar feeling of the Force enveloped her, the sound rushing out of her ears. She sighed, ready to get this over with. But when she turned, she saw him standing there in the dark of the night with his bare back to her.

“I’d rather not do this now,” she told him, as if he could control it.

“Yeah, me too.” Perseus turned towards her, his bare chest sticking out at her. He had a cloth pressed to a cut on his side, his pants just below his navel. She looked at the ground before she could pay too much attention to his ab line going down the middle of his stomach. 

She let her mind wander back to her conversation earlier with Grover. How he hated his father so much it might’ve been his descent to the dark side. His hatred was enough to fuel pure power that was able to scare _Grover Underwood._ Somehow, she scared him too, but for completely different reasons.

“Why did you hate your father…” She tried to face him again, but her voice turned into a breathy sigh as he removed the cloth from his side. His scar on his face continued to run down the entirety of his chest. She’d given him that scar. She saw his entire upper body on display, yet he was doing nothing to cover it up. If anything, he smirked at her. He smiled as if being shirtless like this was actually doing anything to her. 

"That has to be a crime.." She muttered, his bare chest practically screaming, _Hey, look at me!_ “Do you have something you can put on? A cowl, or perhaps your robes?” 

He made no effort to grab a cover up, leaving her to stare at him. She looked down at the ground, then realized that he was amused by embarrassing her. He chuckled softly, so she looked him in the face, not allowing her eyes to wonder down to his dark skin and muscled arms. 

Annabeth sighed, regaining her thoughts. “Why did you hate your father?” She didn’t yell like every other time she’s seen him. She stayed calm, her attention more on keeping her breathing light than anything. “I want an honest answer.” 

Perseus started to walk towards her, and she pulled her cloak tighter to her body. She tried to stay level about this, but when he’s smirking and practically ignoring her like the shirtless asshole he is, she threw the calm off the island. He’d taken so much for granted, and ruined the peace Hazel had brought when he turned.

“Your father loved you!” Annabeth growled. Poseidon died for him, but Perseus didn’t care. He _has parents,_ but he simply doesn’t care. “He gave a damn about you!”

“I didn’t hate him,” Perseus’s echoey voice said easily. 

“Then _why?”_

“Why what?” His body moved forward, getting closer to her with every step. She didn’t want to be this close to him, considering his attire. She couldn’t open her mouth to answer, and he took her speechlessness as a challenge. “Why what, Annabeth? Say it.” 

She swallowed a lump in her throat. “Why did you kill him?”

Perseus turned away from her for a beat, contemplating something. He didn’t even crack a smile when he said, “Your parents threw you away like garbage, I don’t expect you to understand.”

“No, they didn’t!” She never believed Atlas when he said the same thing. She wasn’t going to start now.

“Oh, but they did.” He looked back at her, his eyes trained on her face. “Yet you could never stop needing them. You look for them everywhere. In Poseidon, and now Underwood.”

She shook her head, but he continued. “Did you ever ask Grover about what happened that night?”

“Yes.” She didn’t have to. She knows enough. 

His scoff sent shivers down her spine. “No. So, I’ll tell you myself.”

He stayed silent, waiting for her to protest. He wanted to see her throw a fit and start yelling at him again. She wouldn’t. She would hear what he had to say, then roll her eyes to let him know that he doesn’t affect her. He seemed content with her silence as an answer, so he began to talk. 

“Grover sensed my power, as I’m sure he senses yours. He was scared of it. I found him one night standing above me, Riptide ignited in his hand. He didn’t notice I had woken up. I could sense the fear in him. He was trying to kill me. There’s no other reason he would’ve been there. So I brought his temple down, and I joined the dark. There was nothing left for me on the light side.”

She hadn’t heard this side of the story. But Grover said it didn’t scare him enough back then. He wouldn’t kill one of his students just because he could sense the power. 

“Liar,” she whispered, shaking her head.

“I’m many things, but a liar is not one of them.” He walked forward again. She didn’t take a step back. “Let the past die. Killing it is the only way to become what you’re meant to be.”

“And what’s that?”

“You’ll see. You’re a wise girl. I imagine the truth will make its way to you eventually.”

Before she could retaliate, the sound returned to his ears and Perseus vanished in front of her. She stomped inside her hut, trying to decipher whatever clues she could during that encounter. She couldn’t tell if he was lying, but she also knows Grover wouldn’t just try to flat out murder him like that. There’s pieces missing, and she wanted to uncover them.

Most of all, Annabeth wanted to get to the bottom of Percy Jackson, and why Perseus wanted to kill him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Pedro Pascal really quit s2 of mando im going to cry. I watched him on Narcos and I love him and I just really hope he's still on board.
> 
> But screw Gina Carano, we don't watch the show for her. We watch for Pedro who respects others and doesn't mock trans people and pronouns on Twitter for no reason :D
> 
> I'm just saying I really hope Ahsoka is in s2 tho like pLease


	4. Nothing Good Ever Happens After 2 AM

Jason looked around the casino in awe. 

The bright lights were shining on them, illuminating a spotlight on all the gorgeous people. Everyone was dressed in their best suits and ties, the girls in long dresses that trailed behind them as they walked with their clanking heels.

He had never seen anything so bright that wasn’t a cannon about to fire on an innocent town. Or anything this big that wasn’t going to crash into a Half-Blood ship to take them all out. Or even something this beautiful. Going into lightspeed was always an amazing sight, but this city with every light turned on took first place.

Except Leo wasn’t paying attention to the gorgeous imagery. “Let’s get in, find Ella, and get out of here.” 

“How exactly do you know this place?” He could sense a personal relation, but it didn’t seem he was getting an answer anytime soon. 

The pilot tensed. “Stories, among other things. I know that this is one of the worse places in the galaxy, and it’s filled with even worse people.” 

Oh. So the kind of people they usually meet on these kinds of missions? “We’ll be fine. We just have to stick together.” 

“Next thing you know, we’re getting charged for parking the escape pod on a public beach or something stupid like that.” 

One of the employees at a high stakes table started shouting something about the game, and cheers from gamblers rang in his ears. He didn’t want to dismiss Leo’s fears; that’s not what he was doing. But this place seemed so… harmless. Like the worst thing that can happen is losing money on an unlucky roll. 

“Aw, come on.” If he wasn’t going to get an explanation, then of course Jason was going to question it until he got one. “A little casino can’t be _that_ bad.”

Leo ignored him. “Reyna said this girl has a green dress and a scar on her back with long hair. Festus already went looking, but I doubt you even noticed.” Ouch. He did notice, but Leo was too distracted to have realized. “Let’s find her and get out of here. Split up.”

Splitting up didn’t seem like the best idea right now, though Jason could tell there was something else behind it. Leo was getting annoyed and angry as he kept talking about how pretty the casino is. He wasn’t trying to get him upset; genuinely. He just wanted to know what could be so bad about a place like this. 

Before Jason could protest the idea, Leo turned on his heel and walked away.

Great. So not only is he missing one friend, he’s got another one mad and a different one aboard a ship with only one comm channel between everyone here. 

Accepting that he accidentally pissed Leo off, Jason walked around the casino, trying not to look suspicious. It’s not unusual for random Titans to do patrol on planets and cities that make the kind of money Vegas does. That’s what worried him.

They weren’t exactly dressed like they were about to go gamble. He was still wearing Leo’s old pilot jacket, one of Leo’s shirts, and a pair of Leo’s pants he never grew into. So maybe leaving the Titans with nothing but a Giantrooper bodysuit wasn’t the best idea… It got worse as people began to give him weird looks.

A woman with a red dress and fur coat dropped her drink when he saw him. He rolled his eyes, walking away when she didn’t have a green dress. Yeah, she didn’t exactly fit the standard he was looking for at the moment anyways. 

He continued to make laps, not even catching a glimpse of Leo. He hadn’t seen Festus either, but chatter was heard through the coms. Festus was keeping them updated, but Leo was radio silent. It concerned Jason. 

At every high stake table, he paused, not only looking for a girl with red hair and a scar on her back, but for his friend. They were still in (somewhat) close proximity, and he assumed he’d catch a glimpse at some point. He found neither, his impatience growing rapidly. 

He considered asking one of the employees for Ella, but he realized that asking random strangers wasn’t the best idea. If one of them turned out to be a Titan, or worse, also looking for a codebreaker, it wouldn’t be bright to ask around. 

Sighing, he pressed the button on his com. “Has anyone seen any sign of Ella?” 

Festus chirped back, and Jason groaned when he didn’t understand. Annabeth would definitely need to help him with that. A man in a tuxedo stared him down, probably wondering what a growling, underdressed guy was doing in his casino. He said something into a watch, and Jason considered following him as this man walked away. His gut told him to, but the man started laughing with a girl next to him. They were gossiping about how bad he looked, no doubt.

He pulled his jacket tighter around his body. He could see why they were considered bad. Everyone here was rude if you didn’t look exactly like them. But to refer to them as some of the worst people in the galaxy? He didn’t understand that. 

“Yeah buddy, I know,” Leo’s voice suddenly said, sounding defeated. Jason perked up, listening to the voice. “Let’s all meet up near the balcony by the Pinochle table.”

Jason didn’t have to look far. Pinochle wasn’t far from him, and he noticed the huge balcony that stretched across the entire front of the fourth story of the building. He walked toward a plant, waiting for any sign of the droid or pilot. 

Festus found him first, chirping angrily (he assumed). He had someone’s drink on top of him, as if he were a table. Jason stifled his laugh, taking the glass off and placing it on the planter. Leo ran over to them, obviously in a rush. 

“What happened to you?” Jason asked, concerned. 

“The girls here are _crazy,”_ Leo declared. “They kept talking about how they love a bad boy, and gushed about the unbuttoned button on my shirt! Who does that!?”

Jason felt something in his chest, but he didn’t know what it was. He shook it off, assuming it was just the rush of being spoken to again. “So you’re good now?”

“As I’ll ever be.” 

“Well, I’m pretty sure the three of us covered the entire casino by now, and it seems none of us found the redhead with a green dress and a scar, so we’re about to be _less_ good.” 

“Where is this girl?” Leo wondered out loud. 

An unintelligible voice rang throughout the casino over a speaker. No one stopped to listen, and the music didn’t even lower. Everyone went on with their conversations, the laughter as loud as ever. Not that it really mattered, but Leo’s focus was directed toward the balcony, where ship lights were seen.

“Was that what I think it is…?”

Jason followed Leo as he stepped onto the balcony. They leaned against the railing, looking out at the ships that were landing on a private section on the beach. People got on and off, but no one else inside the casino paid any attention to the docking vessels. 

“What is it?” Jason asked, watching the ships. When he didn’t get any reaction, he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was getting tired of the bleak answers. “Look, I don’t really get what’s so bad about this place besides the rude people. I don’t understand, but can you tell me so I could?” 

Leo smiled sadly. “That announcement was for everyone to stay off the beaches so they can unload the cargo. Look closer. Do you see what they’re dropping off?”

He squinted, but he couldn’t make anything out except for crates being loaded off and on. “Just some crates. What is it?” 

“Ambrosia. These people are ambrosia runners. They take advantage of young kids who just lost their mom, running from the Half-Bloods because they were in pain, and only found their way back to Camp Half-Blood because his friend Buford found him, but there weren’t enough resources to liberate the entire site.”

Jason looked at him sideways. Leo was finally opening up, showing his vulnerability and allowing himself to be exposed. Not just as the hotshot pilot, but as Leo Valdez. He was scared. They both were. No one had ever come to him, and he suspected Leo hadn't gone into much detail about his experience. 

“My mom died on a mission, and I was with her when it happened. I watched the Titans kill her. I wanted nothing to do with the Half-Bloods. I was angry. I blamed them, which wasn’t fair. It wasn’t their fault, and I know that now. It’s hard to forgive myself for that at times. But I was an emotional sixteen year old. Now I command a squadron of pilots. Well, used to, but same gist. Sally saw me for who I was, and she gave me the opportunity to grow, even after losing every important person in my life. This place is terrible, and no amount of pretty lights will ever change my mind.”

Jason rested his hand over Leo’s. “You came back for the Half-Bloods. That’s something special, if I ever knew it.” He cleared his throat, his hand burning with the touch. “Plus, you’ve got some important people in your life now.”

Leo smirked at him. It wasn’t his usual troublemaker smile. It was soft, vibrating with a different kind of energy that he couldn’t describe. Jason nearly melted on the spot. “I’ve got you, Sally, and Annabeth when she gets back. I’ve got Festus. Piper now, if she feels like risking her life every chance she’s got.” 

They laughed, but it occurred to Jason that they were missing someone. “Hey, where’d Festus go?”

Leo’s eyes widened as he raised his com to his mouth. “Buddy, where are you?” A chirp. “Okay, stay safe.” He turned back to Jason, a chuckle coming out of his lips. “He went back out to look for Ella.” 

A man started throwing coins all over the place from inside. Golden drachmas were littering the floor, some people stepping over the money and ignoring it. Others picked some up, but the man laughed at them. 

“There’s only one business in the galaxy that can get you this rich, and it isn’t ambrosia running,” Leo stated. 

Jason understood. “War.” 

“They sell weapons to the Titans. They get all their money from ambrosia mining districts, enslaving people and running it. Bounty hunters work for them, yada yada yada. Moral of the story is the people at the Lotus Casino, and Las Vegas in general, only do things that will benefit them.” A pause. “I want to run my ship through this stupid beautiful town.” 

When they landed on Vegas, something like _this_ was never what Jason had expected to happen at a casino. But just like people, planets have layers. Planets have backgrounds and secrets that no one else knows.

Jason related to Leo. He has a past he’s not proud of. He helped the Titans. He worked for them at a point. He came from evil, but he rose and is here now. They’ve both done things they weren’t proud of, and could understand each other more than maybe anyone else could. 

Even with things in their closet, things they still couldn’t talk about, Jason knew he had someone to talk with if he ever needed to. Leo must’ve felt it too, because he smiled at him. It wasn’t sad, or impish anymore. 

It was genuine. 

So far, he’d only seen the rebellious pilot who couldn’t be intimidated by much, loved the general like a mother, acted on impulse while fighting for everything he believed in. The sensitive and vulnerable side? It was something he could get used to, even if he didn’t quite understand how to handle it yet.

He didn’t know how to handle himself either. The Titans were never big on talking about emotions, instead choosing to keep everything in and take it out on innocent people on the battlefield. 

He couldn’t even pull the trigger during his first fight.

“Funny thing, actually…” Leo mumbled, using his free hand to rub the back of his neck. “One time, when Sally was talking to me about all this, I told her everything, from my mom to my friend to my aunt. When I started crying, she didn’t hesitate to comfort me. I freaked when she got injured because… I dunno. I can’t lose some sense of normality in my life during this war.”

Jason squeezed his hand. “You’ve got us now. I can’t guarantee when Annabeth comes back we’ll be any calmer. In fact, it’ll probably get worse. But I’ve got your back. The next time you want to go on a mission that Sally would disapprove of, I’m in.”

“It’d be a shame for you to get into trouble two days with the Half-Bloods because of my bad influence.”

“Bad influence? Please. They haven’t seen bad influence until they’ve met Festus and Annabeth together.”

“That I can agree on, my friend.” 

Jason’s fingers twitched to properly hold Leo’s hand, but their staring contest was interrupted by Leo breaking into a grin, pointing at one of the tables. “The redhead with a green dress and a scar down her back!” 

Once they spotted her, they started to make their way over to Ella. When they had almost reached her, they were stopped by an angry man in a tuxedo. He recognized him as the same guy from earlier that had talked into his watch after seeing Jason. 

“These are your shuttle parkers, correct?” The man said to another in a uniform.

Ella looked up from her table, and they both tried to get her attention. But she didn’t know them, and had no reason to care as two random guys were handcuffed. 

“You guys are under arrest for parking violation 8108. You have the right to remain silent,” said the man in the uniform. They were dragged away, and Ella didn’t spare them another look. 

They resisted the entire time they were pulled into an elevator and into a cell underneath the casino. They had no one with them in their cell, and Leo banged against the bars in frustration as their arrestor walked away. 

“Shit…” He mumbled, fixing the toolbelt around his waist. “I didn’t bring anything that could help us out of a Lotus cell.” 

The com on Jason’s wrist buzzed, Leo’s following suit a few seconds later. “Leo, Jason, where are you guys?” Piper’s voice rang through the cell. “The Nyx has been firing on us nonstop, and they’re talking about evacuating to the escape pods to look for the Los Angeles planet.” 

“Chiron wants to run away?” Leo asked, cursing when he basically answered his own question. “Look, we’re in a bit of a situation. As soon as I get a hold of Festus, we’ll be in and out. We found Ella, and we know what to do.” 

“Okay, but hurry guys,” Piper urged. “And good luck.” 

Her com went dead with a click, and Jason wanted to throw something across the cell to hit the stupid guy in a tux. They were arresting them because they parked on a beach while ambrosia runners were dropping off their load. That was just about the last thing they needed.

“Where’s Festus?” Jason asked. 

“He’s already looking for help. I have a panic button on my watch that I made just for him. He’ll get us out of here.” 

They trusted that droid with everything. But after half an hour of waiting, they were losing hope. 

“Leo-”

“I know! I know,” Leo said, standing from where he sat on the floor. “I’ve tried connecting to his com, but his line’s gone dead. We’ve gotta hope the panic button is enough.

Jason didn’t like having to wait, but he also knew they had no choice. Outside of the bars, there was a sheet of clear plastic. Even if they managed to break the bars somehow, they had no way of opening the plastic, which required a key card from the outside. 

“Maybe Piper can send help?” He suggested, but Leo shook his head.

“By telling her or Rachel to come out here, we’re risking being spotted by the Titans or one of them being captured.” He slumped his head, a dark look in his eyes. “I’ve done too much to Piper and her family. She’s staying safe on board, out of harm’s way.” 

“They made the choice to sacrifice themselves to destroy the Talos. I don’t know all the details, but I know you tried to save them. You commanded them to the end, and didn’t leave. You’re not any less a commander, even if you are a captain now.”

His lip quirked upward, his messy curls falling into his face. “Maybe.” 

A knock on the plastic startled them, the pair standing up and getting prepared for a fight. While trying to be discreet as they left the Peleus, they hadn’t brought any blasters. 

They were starting to regret it as a tall, blond man leaned against the plastic, wearing a velvet purple suit. He had lighting blue eyes, his features sharp and pointy. He had a knife strapped to his belt, and a tattoo on the inside of his wrist with black lines and some kind of symbol. 

But then they heard Festus’ chirp, and their hope was back. 

“Festus, you are amazing buddy!” Leo grinned. He turned to Jason, saying, “He found… a codebreaker.” He paused, humming. “Huh, he kind of looks like you…” 

“My name’s Octavian,” the man introduced. “I go far back with the Titans and their code. Your droid said you need to get on board the Nyx. If the price is right, I’ll get you on board.” He held something between his fingers, but before they could catch a glimpse, the bars lifted, and the plastic disappeared into the ground. “Care to see for yourself?” 

Jason was stunned, but not as much as Leo. “How did…?” 

Octavian shrugged. “The Titans taught me to be careful who I trust. Now, I do everything for money. Then again, doesn’t everyone?” 

He respectfully disagreed, but it didn’t seem like the time. “How do we get out of here?” 

“The droid found a ship,” Octavian announced with a smile. “Don’t know how the fucking ball did it, but it’s parked on the beach. The next wave of ambrosia runners come soon, so unless you want to end up back here, we got to go. _Now.”_

Jason grabbed Leo’s wrist, and they followed Festus and Octavian to the next part of their mission. 

* * *

Annabeth had been lifting falling rocks for a while now.

It was Grover’s second lesson, and he was teaching her how to be more in tune with the Force. They had been doing this for three days now, and she was getting quicker in catching the falling objects. 

He said he wasn’t going to dedicate special training to learning Spatha. When she explained how bad San Francisco has gotten since the last time he’s gone (over thirty years ago!), he realized she’d been fighting in self defense her whole life with her staff. She could train on her own, and she was grateful for a little independence. 

But she still wasn’t perfect with the Force. When he’d drop rocks or leaves (and at some point her dinner) off a cliff, she’d have to catch it without looking over the edge. The first day, everything would either fall into the water, or she’d blow it to pieces. 

The second day was looking just as bleak, but after a quick pep talk, she had been able to catch the objects blindly without anything cracking under the pressure of the Force. Hence him testing her and throwing the fish he had caught for her over the edge, where she panicked and accidentally lifted ten more fish from the ocean.

He had called it a night, but allowed her to keep some of the fish for herself. 

It brought them to now, the third day, where she was going at it again with Grover talking to her. It ranged from some memories with Sally, growing up with his uncle Leneus, and even what he did after the war between Tartarus and the original Half-Bloods. 

“Before Hazel turned, the Demigods were a part of a form of government,” Grover explained. “They were called the Olympians. The Olympians forged a war with the Giants, and the Demigods felt morally obligated to fight, and so they did. They became generals instead of peacekeepers, and it caused a great devastation in the end.”

“How come?” Annabeth asked, closing her eyes to seize the twig thrown over the cliff. 

“Everyone knew about General Levesque. She was an amazing fighter who never lost a battle. She even had an apprentice, Nico di Angelo, but he left the Demigods after being falsely accused of bombing a Demigod Temple. It was another reason she got closer to the dark, but no one noticed until it was too late. When me and Sally were born, our names had to be changed from Hazel’s so we wouldn’t be tracked. We’re only left with the names Frank gave us when Hazel gave birth.”

“Who won the war?”

“Funnily enough, no one. The Supreme Chancellor, Gaea, rose to power during the war, and after Hazel massacred the Giants on another system, Tartarus took over for the Olympians. She once fought alongside her master, Sammy, and he loved her like a sister. But she was manipulated, and the Demigods had failed to see it. They hadn't realized they couldn’t turn her back… They failed her.”

She didn’t know a lot about Tartarus, but everything she was hearing now seemed like a completely different lifetime. When she caught the twig and brought it to the cliff, he grinned at her. 

“The Demigods were all killed. See, Gaea had a plan. It was called Plan Twenty-Three. During the war, the Demigods were assisted by the Automaton Army. You know automaton droids? They have the same chips as real automatons, but without the murder switch. When Gaea told the automatons that she initiated Plan Twenty-Three, they had one order: to kill every Demigod. They fought alongside the Demigods for many years, then turned on them. They succeeded in wiping the galaxy of ten thousand Demigods, and the Order fell.”

“Were there any survivors?” 

“Very limited. Sammy lived, but not after he fought the most devastating fight of his life. He never wanted to talk about what happened during Frank's passing, which happened shortly after. Nico, despite not being a Demigod, was still marked, but lived. He managed to remove the chip from his commander, Will Solace."

She opened her mouth to talk, but he kept going. “With the Demigods dead, they are very romanticized in today’s stories. When you take away the myths and legends, you will realize that the Demigods were nothing but failures.”

“They were good for _something,_ right?” 

“They fought a good fight for years. But unfortunately, when they were about to win and were at the height of their power, Gaea rose, created Tartarus, and wiped out the Demigods with nothing but words. She made Hazel believe the Demigods weren’t with her and didn’t trust her. She made her believe that she was alone when she had a best friend who wanted nothing more than to help her, a husband who loved her with everything in him, an apprentice who saw nothing but the light in her. She had twins she fought with for nine months on the front line. A Demigod Master trained her, and was responsible for the rise of Darth Pluto.” 

She couldn’t tell if he was talking about Sammy or Gaea, but she did know one thing. “A Demigod saved her. She was the most hated and feared woman in the galaxy, but you saw the conflict in her. You knew she wasn’t gone, and helped turn her.” 

“Then I became nothing but a legend.”

Annabeth didn’t know what to say. She knew next to nothing about the truth, and now that she knows, now that she hears it from another perspective, she could hardly listen. She was guilty of idolizing the Demigods, yet knew nothing of the wars or their mistakes. 

“Hazel brought balance to the Force,” Grover continued. “For a very long time, it was balanced. The good remained, and the dark met in the middle without one overpowering the other. But with the powerful light… a darkness rose. I was introduced to Percy Jackson.”

The name intrigued her. She was about to ask about it, but Grover started talking again. “My nephew has that mighty bloodline. A war hero for a father, a princess and fighter for a mother, his uncle a Demigod. His grandpa was the greatest senator the Olympians had. And then Hazel… He had reason to be the next great hero. We asked too much of him when we shouldn’t have, and expected everything from that little boy.” 

“Why do you guys refer to him as Percy instead of Perseus?” Such a small name change, but it made Perseus flinch every time he heard it.

“Percy is the name Sally gave him, and he made it longer when he turned to the dark side to show his power growing. But he’ll always be Percy to us. He was Percy when I trained him in my hubris, believing I could pass on my knowledge to him. His parents sent him here to me. Poseidon was... Poseidon about it. But Sally trusted me with her son, to protect and train him. I took him, and a dozen other students with me and I made a temple to train them.”

“What went wrong?” He threw another rock over the edge, and she caught it in no time. He smiled, pleased, but got a haunted look in his eyes. 

“There was darkness rising in him. I was no match. I had gone to confront him one night. I noticed Riptide was buzzing next to him. I took it out of pen form, and just holding the hilt, I could feel the crystal inside bleeding. He had already turned by the time I held his lightsaber. He was going to betray us, and for a moment… He’d made his choice, and he turned on me within seconds of standing there. He burned my temple, and took most of my students with him to the Titans as they rose. The others were taken prisoner, and I never learned of their fate. I watched my temple burn with nothing but the clothes on my back and Blackjack.” 

“But that wasn’t your fault!” Annabeth protested. “It was-”

“Kronos? Yeah, that’s what Sally said. But I’m Grover Underwood, Demigod Master. I was supposed to sense the darkness, right? You can feel when someone falls to the dark, so how did I not?” 

She froze. “You can?” 

“Nico said it was a cold feeling when his master turned,” Grover explained. “It’s possible to feel someone’s turn. But I didn’t feel anything. Only the ones who are truly connected can sense each other.” 

Annabeth flashed back to that period of time when she was thirteen. When she was freezing in the desert, lashing out at people and having nightmares. “How long ago was this? His turn, I mean.”

He thought for a moment. “Six years ago.” He threw another twig, but she didn’t catch it this time.

She accidentally threw it further into the ocean. The revelation paused her entire world, for a moment drawing her back into the hold Perseus had on her when he looked at her with steady eyes and an enticing smirk. 

Six years ago, she’d felt Perseus fall to the dark, and she hadn’t even known it.

Her confusion was unlike anything before. The Force was connecting them in more ways than one, and she didn’t even know. It started with her being able to get into his head, and then their weird Force conversations. But to feel his turn before she ever met him? She almost fell off the cliff. 

Grover ignored her failed attempt at catching the twig. “They needed a legend, but I didn’t want to be one.”

“The galaxy may need a legend.” She didn’t know if she got her real message across: _I need a legend._ “Before this, I was just a scavenger on San Francisco. I need help to find my place in all of this.” 

He huffed. “I’m not sure I can do that. Whenever people need someone most, they don’t get it. Hazel had an apprentice, husband, and a master who all loved her. She still ruled Tartarus for over two decades. And when Percy needed me, I checked on his saber before going to him. I was foolish. The Demigods did nothing good for the galaxy, and it needs to end.” 

She blinked at the sudden topic change, turning around to face him. “You told me what was wrong with the old Demigod Order. What about the good?”

“You think there’s good?” Grover chuckled. “Hazel wasn’t what was wrong with it. She turned because the Order failed her. There was too much wrong with it. I’ve read the old code, studied it every chance I got. A master who survived Plan Twenty-Three wrote about what happened before and after the birth of Darth Pluto. The system had failed that girl, and I won’t let it happen again.” 

“But you won’t,” Annabeth objected. “You didn’t fail Perseus. Perseus failed you.” 

_But I won’t,_ she almost added.

"If I couldn't save him…" Grover stared at her for a beat, then turned around and started marching down the steps of the first Demigod temple. “Someone else can. The sun is setting. We’ll continue your last lesson tomorrow.” 

He didn’t turn back. He walked away, and she huffed. She believed in him. He had shown her more about the Force than anyone else could. She could use it, control what she was doing now. Perseus was right in saying she needed a teacher. She’d found the grumpiest one albeit, but one that wasn’t going to use her for power.

She knew she couldn’t ask too much of Grover. He was emotionally drained just telling her about the Olympian and Giants war. While she couldn’t understand much about it (considering war never even reached San Francisco), she did know that it was always going to have disastrous results. 

With Plan Twenty-Three and the rise of Darth Pluto, there was nothing short of devastation. 

She just wished he’d talk to her a little more.

She started to make her way down the stairs and to her hut, where her leftover fish from yesterday was waiting for her. Before she entered her hut, all sound rushed out of her ears as she fell into the Force. She spun on her heel, expecting to see Perseus again, but she saw no sign of him.

She shook her head. Now she was imagining things it seemed. She walked into her hut as normal, but stifled a scream when she saw him lying down on the stone slab she called a bed. 

“Oh, hey,” he greeted. “What? Don’t look so surprised to see me.”

“How long have you been here for?” She demanded to know.

“Relax. Only since the connection started, but I was lying down in my own bed before the Force threw us together. Hence, why I appear to be lying in your bed. Or at least, I assume. I can’t see your surroundings, so I can be on the floor for all I know.”

“You’re not,” she confirmed, though she didn’t know why. She’s not in the mood to argue, exhausted from everything Grover had told her. Plus, a couple of things weren’t lining up in their stories, and she wanted to learn everything. “Look, I was just going to make dinner. If you stay quiet and out of my way, I’ll leave you to do whatever you were doing.”

She watched him carefully. Grover said he was still Percy to everyone who knew him. She studied him to see how he was now Perseus, a commander who has brought nothing but pain. He turned while training with Grover, and left his master for dead when he destroyed the temple.

Who was Percy? 

“Now, why would I do that?” Perseus taunted, crossing his arms behind him. “I haven’t seen you for three days. I’ve been dying to ask you some questions.”

And there goes all hope of having a peaceful dinner.

She took her homing beacon off when he turned away from her, reminding herself she should give it to Blackjack. She didn’t want him to know she had it so he could go tear apart the Half-Bloods and find his way to her. 

“I hope you know I am not happy with the Force for this,” she stated. 

“And you think I am?” 

“You seem to be enjoying yourself. You’ve done nothing but try to break into my mind again and remind me that I don’t know what happened with you and Grover. Just so you know, I asked him about it.” She knows the truth he’s been teasing her with. He couldn’t make fun of her again.

“Oh, but do you?” Perseus shut his eyes, opening them to focus on her. “Sit. It’ll make this easier.” He sat up, looking at her expectantly. When she made no move from her standing position, he rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to make you sit. I was just trying to make this simple.”

Hesitating only a beat longer, she sat down at the edge of her bed. He leaned in a little closer, but she had no reaction. Pleased, he said, “You idolized Poesidon. I mean, it makes sense. A super cool war hero wanted you to join his crew. Awesome, right? And General Sally, a princess that can keep up in a fight. They did everything to make me a perfect hero, but believe it or not, Annabeth, good people can be bad parents. My mom was fine and I spared her every time I encountered her, but Poseidon was nothing short of a deadbeat.”

Not like she would know. “They loved you. They stayed with you until you betrayed them.”

He had the audacity to chuckle. “That’s what Grover’s telling people now? I don’t know where the old man gets his story from. Did he say I turned before or after he took advantage of me?” 

Nothing in the story mentioned anything of the sort. “What are you talking about?” 

“It seems like he still didn’t tell you everything you needed to know. The old Demigod code was their downfall. It’s what caused Darth Pluto to rise. I studied it too hard. Did you know that attachments were forbidden? That if someone were to form an attachment, they’d be exiled? Do you understand why I’m trying so hard to rid the world of Demigods? I know what it feels like to feel nothing towards the people around me. No one deserves that. Once I get rid of the last Demigod, all will be well.” 

After Grover’s rant about how bad the system was, she was surprised he didn’t mention anything about banning attachments. She thinks he would’ve if he was trying to get her to understand. “Yeah, you’re lying.” 

“You’re too kind,” he responded sarcastically.

“You’re right, I am.”

“I don’t understand why you don’t believe me.” Perseus shifted, sitting against the wall. She followed, sitting next to him. She was trying to find a crack to prove he was lying. _Anything_ to give her some sufficient evidence before she started trusting him. “If I want something, I’m very upfront about it. We’re too interlocked in the Force, anyways. Trust me, if I was lying, you would know.” 

She didn’t doubt it. But she didn’t want to believe it. “Okay, you’ve said your piece. Can I please eat my dinner now?” 

“I assume Grover found the first Demigod temple?” Her silence was his answer. “There’s a library with the old Demigod texts. Or so I’ve heard. I’m curious about it. Do you think it has anything about the code? Or even stories from the Olympian and Giant war?” 

Her mind wandered back to the stone temple at the top of the mountain. She remembered the staircase that led to something else. Something she wasn’t able to get a glimpse at. Her instinct told her that’s where the library was, though she couldn’t explain why. It was just a feeling, but a strong one. 

“What’s it matter to you?” She grumbled. 

“Nothing but curiosity. I wonder why Underwood hasn’t shown them to you. If you ask me, I think it’s too painful for him. It probably reminds him of grandmother dearest. Good people can be bad teachers, darling.” 

Grover had been a little rough in the beginning, but he’s spent the past three days helping her learn how to use the Force and bend it to her will. He was teaching her what she needed to know, and it was working. She asked and got what she wanted. She couldn’t demand too much of him.

He may have been a bad teacher with Perseus, but he was improving with her. He could sense a dark presence the entire time Perseus was training under him. It had to have thrown him off. Perseus had already turned to the dark when Grover went to have a talk about it. 

This is the part where the two sides stop lining up together, and only one of them could be telling the truth. 

Who was it? 

“I sense your conflict,” Perseus said. There was no malicious teasing in his voice. He spoke in a gentle voice, not one usually reserved for enemies. He stared at her sideways, his eyes trained on her. “If you really want to see the code for yourself, check out the library.”

“I’m not going anywhere while we’re still connected.”

“I literally can’t see your surroundings,” he reminded. “Right now, it looks like you’re sitting against my wall on my bed. If you go to the library, I’ll stay here and let you explore. I’m sure you’ll want to be alone when you see through Underwood’s half truths.” 

She still didn’t want to. But Annabeth craved to read that code, and try to understand why it was left out of the story Grover told her. She considered for a moment, grabbing her cloak from the floor and barging out of her hut, not even bidding a goodbye. 

Annabeth ran from that bed, and she ended up back on top of the mountain. She was out of breath, sucking in air at an abnormally fast rate. When she learns everything she needs to, she’ll pause and let her breathing return to normal. 

Panting, she made her way down the steps that led to the unknown place. This might not even be the library, but her gut told her it was. 

She didn’t go down for long, the stairs opening up into a large room. She took her lightsaber off of her belt clip and ignited it to see in the dark void. She saw a shelf lined with lots of books, running her hand along the spines. She took the one with the title of _The Demigod Code._ She sat on the floor, holding the book in her lap.

When she opened it, dust flew out. She coughed, waving her arms until the dust settled. She raised the lightsaber over the pages, scanning the words. 

_Between the ages one to four, Demigod Masters will use the Katoptris to find the location of Force sensitive children. They will leave behind their mothers and fathers. The Demigods will be their new family._

_No Demigod or apprentice is to leave the Order. The only out is exile. To be exiled, the Demigod or apprentice must have broken the code._

_Demigods are to not form personal relationships. Attachment is forbidden, though compassion is necessary. There is no passion, only serenity for those around you._

Annabeth nearly dropped Spatha. She gaped at the three pieces of code she read, almost in awe that rules like this not only existed, but were followed.

Honestly, it’s no wonder Hazel turned. She saw children being taken from their homes as _babies,_ and trained under a code they weren’t aware of. Then, if they disagreed about something, they couldn’t leave. They had to be forced out, and they had to break some rules in order to do it. 

Hazel was _married._ She had kids, and then was tricked into believing she had killed them. But the code stated that no personal relationships could exist. Already, Hazel was going against the Demigods. While she scanned the other parts of the code, she could see where the little things might’ve led up to Hazel’s turn. Who could follow this and still be okay afterward?

She stood quickly, and shoved the book back onto the shelf. She’d read enough, learning twice in one day that the stories she admired growing up was nothing but lies. The storytellers were wrong and blind, either unaware of the truth, or unable to say anything.

Another book caught her attention. 

_Darth Caligula The Wise_

Annabeth sunk back to the floor, flipping to a random page. She flipped to another, and another, and another. Darth Caligula was not only a dark side user, but a Sith. She also read that Siths were the darkest of dark Force users, and their eyes turned gold when they were knighted as one. A page showed her an image of some sort of Sith holocron thing that led to some place called Greece, but the next page caught her attention.

_To heal with the Force is to transfer your life energy into another person or being. You put your hand over the desired spot, and you let the Force flow through you. If it is taking long, you use your anger and hatred to speed it up, as it will cause your blood to move faster, therefore the Force works quickly. To bring someone from death will kill the healer, unless they are using only pure light. This is a dark side power that the Demigods don’t teach. There will be no light healing._

How could something of this significance be hidden? A book with this kind of power doing nothing but collecting dust on some random island? How can any of this stuff be here? If something as great as bringing someone from death is ignored…

Then what’s going to happen to her? 

Annabeth slammed the book closed, deciding she’s had enough. She didn’t bother putting it back, instead running back up the stairs to leave the library. She turned off the lightsaber when she reached the top, glancing at the mosaic on the clifftop. She could recognize it now as Hazel dueling her master. A girl who lost faith in the Demigods fighting someone who believed in them, and her, the whole time. 

Shutting her eyes, she walked back down the mountain slowly, not looking forward to seeing Perseus in her hut again.

She knew he was still there because the sound had not returned to her ears, and she could still feel the Force surrounding her. She hoped they would disconnect from the top of the mountain to her hut, but she arrived at her little home, and he continued to lie on her bed.

“Hello there,” Perseus greeted. 

“Commander Jackson,” she quipped, not in the mood for his teasing. He made a sour face at the use of his last name, scooting over and laying on his side, facing her. “What do you want?”

“I can’t exactly end this thing, so you might as well tell me what you found.” She sat down next to him, and he chuckled. “You’re clearly upset. Tell me.”

“I don’t feel like discussing my personal feelings with you.”

“Ouch.”

She stayed silent as she pulled off her shoes. She took her hair out of her ponytail, running her fingers through her loose curls. Her usual night routine was examined closely by him, yet she didn’t have the energy to tell him to stop staring. 

“They used to be taken from their families..” Annabeth whispered as he lied down. They barely fit on her little stone slab, though she imagines his bed much larger. “They joined this order and then couldn’t leave.”

“Makes you feel weird about it, doesn’t it?” 

He was spot on with his guess. “There was a lot of stuff down there. Important stuff. If that ends up washed up, what’s going to happen to some random scavenger who happens to know how to use the Force?”

“Grover used to keep a copy of this stuff with him, back at his old temple,” Perseus explained. “I went through it one time. I just felt…” 

She drew her knees to her chest. “Alone?” 

He looked up at her. “Yeah.” 

Her eyelids were heavy, and she was about to fall asleep. The Force didn’t look like it was going to disconnect them anytime soon, and they both knew it. He slid closer to the wall, turning on his side so she faced his back. “Sleep. You know you need it.”

She was surprised at the weird feeling in her stomach. She lied down next to him, pressing her back against his. The warmth radiating off of him was unlike the summer sun on San Francisco. She didn’t have any desire to grab her cloak to use as a blanket. His heat was enough to keep her warm through the night. She watched the door to her hut, trying to remember what had led up to this.

She couldn’t. 

“You’re not alone,” Perseus breathed, his low voice sending heat to her cheeks.

“Neither are you,” Annabeth responded, allowing herself to drift into a peaceful sleep, despite the obvious danger in her room. 

* * *

When she woke up, he was gone. 

It turns out she did not know everything she needed to know about Percy Jackson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes i know its been a while but the mandalorian has inspired me because im HYPED to see ahsoka after bo-katan (BO-KATAN!!) name dropped her last episode. sorry for taking so long but it literally took ahsoka tano to get me to write again jkesjkdjk


End file.
